Staff Reporter
The Zimbabwe National Road Authority (Zinara) board has exerted so much pressure on the Zinara top management over Grant and Thornton forensic auditors who opened a can of worms, the Harare Post can exclusively report.
According to sources at Zinara, board Chairman Engineer Michael Madanha has expressed so much concern over the rot which was exposed by the independent chartered accountants and therefore promised to clean the parastatal.
In a developing event, the acting chief executive officer Ms Mathlene Mujokoro and audit manager Mr Shadreck Matengabadza have resigned with immediate effect, while 19 employees have been arrested for fraud cases involving more than US$210 000. The dragnet on corporate malfeasance is now closing in on corrupt officials.
Eng Madanha has already indicated that the parastatal will not be renewing CEO Engineer Nancy Masiyiwa-Chamisa and human resources and operations director Mr Precious Murove’s contracts over controversies at the road fund.
Zinara public relations manager Mr Augustine Moyo confirmed the arrest of the 19 employees and as well the level of seriousness the board chair is in basing on what was unearthed by the forensic audit results.
“There are some employees with 55 counts, while others are facing up to 70 counts of fraud,” said Mr Moyo.
In a letter addressed to board chairperson Eng Madanha, which was seen by the Harare Post, the executive indicated that her contract of employment will terminate on July 31 2019.
“I write to advise that I will not be able to complete my second tenure of contract of employment, which is supposed to run up to 17 September 2021, and would want to give notice of my resignation up to 31 July 2019. This effectively means that my contract of employment with Zinara will terminate on 31 July 2019. The decision has been necessitated by personal engagements that I would want to pursue.”
Sources revealed to this publication that Ms Mujokoro could not stomach the pressure which has been mounted on her as the Zinara boss as well as insubordination from subordinates who have been sabotaging her on all fronts.
A case was brought up to this publication that the Finance Director Mr Simon Taranhike is one of the culprits who made Mujokoro’s experience at the helm of the parastatal so difficult.
Taranhike is accused of opening a Nostro Foreign Currency Account with CBZ and make Human Resources Manager Mr Precious Murove and himself the only signatories to that account excluding the acting boss.
This did not go well with Mujokoro who in the end would say she is being locked out of all the parastatal money matters.
Meanwhile, board chair has expressed concern of having accused persons who under police investigation to take the acting reigns of the parastatal—by seniority, Taranhike was supposed to be the Acting CEO after the termination by Mujokoro.
Instead, Eng Madanha personally stopped the appointment and rather chose a junior person to become the acting CEO.
Eng Wishes Mawuwa who was the acting Director Technical has been appointed the acting Zinara CEO with immediate effect.
The new Zinara board is faced with an uphill task based on the rot exposed by Grant and Thorntorn.
Eng Madanha said that the new board is determined to fight corruption at Zinara in line with the aspirations of achieving targets of Vision 2030 as set by President Mnangagwa.
“We are fighting the corruption at Zinara tooth and nail and we are not going to leave any stone unturned in this regard. We have a clear mandate from our Minister (Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza), who is determined to see all those who looted Zinara funds behind bars. We are using our internal systems to uproot the corruption at Zinara,” he said.
