The resignation. Of the acting Chief Executive officer of Zinara Ms Mathlene Mujokoro and Audit manager, Mr Shadreck Matengabadza amid the arrest and investigation of 19 employees has caused quite a stir. The new Zinara board has taken a tough stance on allegations of corruption within the organization and it seems these are the earlier casualties of these actions of reports are to be believed.
Zinara has long been touted as being a hotbed of corruption. It has a long history of internal audit report recommendations being ignored. Internal audit is a function of an organization that deals with control processes to ensure work is done in a manner that complies with internal and external requirements. The Zinara has been accused of paying no mind to internal audit speaks to how it finds itself in a situation where the fraud of this scale indicated can occur.
The 19 employees arrested stand accused of defrauding the organization of US$210000 through abuse of systems. Transport and infrastructure minister Joel Biggie Matiza recently appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts to give evidence on Auditor General Mildred Chiri’s report on the entity which unearthed many irregularities including among other things double paying the chief executive officer and the much-publicized thousands of US dollars spent on hairstyles.
Zinara board chairperson Michael Madanha further revealed that the board was working hand in hand with the Criminal Investigation Department of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to investigate all its revenue streams for corruption. He spoke tough calling the new board a broom that would sweep out the rot.
According to Madanha Zinara had very poor corporate governance structures and as such there was no substantive handover upon his appointment. It is widely believed that Zinara is the rule rather than the exception when it comes to poor corporate governance structures in Zimbabwe.
Speaking to the Herald Madanha explained how Zinara employees would use the registration of vehicles which were exempt from paying tolls to allow access to motorists while making them pay and pocket the money. This would be hidden via bulk processing.
It is welcoming to see some form of action finally being taken in any of our institutions. Corruption has become so deeply rooted in our way of doing things that one May believe it has existed since the dawn of time. Seeing real meaningful action would go a long way to teach that it can be dealt with. However, optimism is reserved as we have seen many high profile corruption cases brought to the public arena and then flatter to deceive.
