Zinara sheds some skin
THE Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara), which is in the process of rebranding itself, recovered from a loss position of $149 million in 2019 to a surplus of $506 million in 2021.
Speaking during a workshop for the organisation and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport in Nyanga recently, Zinara board chairman, Dr George Manyaya said their liquidity position continues to improve, thereby allowing the funding support for the ongoing Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme to go on.
“ZIinara has taken a bold stance to rebrand itself into a more professional institution that contributes meaningfully to the growth of our national economy. As an institution, we have embarked on a rebranding journey that will transform and reconfigure our operations.
“Most people associate rebranding with the change of an organisation’s logo but that is not all.
This ‘child’ was born in 2002 and in the past 20 years, there has been growth and maturity challenges which resulted in alleged malpractices that have resulted in a bad boy tag.
“The brand was battered and tattered. The ushering in of the new board, which is full of professionals and patriots blending youth and experience has seen a lot of cleansing.
“It started with the implementation of the recommendations in the audit reports, dealing with management of prior years and bringing in a new team of professionals.
“We have followed the laws, policies and statutes of the country, we have opened up our activities to stakeholders and we are now part of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission integrity committee. We are revolutionising the culture and philosophy of employees, being transparent in our books and recruitments. In short, we are disciples of corporate governance,” said Dr Manyaya.
He said the organisation will remain open to scrutiny from all stakeholders, among them legislators and the media.
“Workshops of this nature was not part of Zinara’s culture.
“We will be having our AGM in the next few days and you will see for yourself that things are looking north.
“Even recommendations from the last Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport report have been implemented and contracts are being regularised through the guidance of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
“We have made a deliberate decision to ensure that we engage and keep all our stakeholders, including Parliament, updated on all our activities. The Zinara we are building is anchored on transparency, accountability, and delivery. There will be clarity in as far as our mandate is concerned.
“We have embarked on addressing the media and presented to them our breakdowns and what we are disbursing to whom and when.
“We are doing that because we know that the funds we administer belong to the people of Zimbabwe and we must be accountable. We must handle the funds with propriety and probity,” said Dr Manyaya.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Shamva North legislator, Cde Oscar Gorerino applauded Government on the progress of the ERRP and urged Zinara to ensure transparency in the handling of public funds.
“We applaud President Mnangagwa for spearheading the ERRP. We can see that a lot of road rehabilitation and construction of bridges is ongoing at a good pace across the country,” said Cde Gorerino.
“When we engaged Zinara in 2019, it was in a mess and there were a lot of legacy issues and malpractices. As a committee, we are happy and can confirm that we have seen positive changes in the way they are now handling public funds. There must be a total eradication of all forms of corruption.
“Millions were lost due to corruption activities. We thank the new team lead by Minister Felix Mhona (Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development), Permanent Secretary, Engineer Thedious Chinyanga and the board chair, Dr Manyaya, for helping to ensure that Zinara’s vision is achieved,” he said.