News / Local
Zinara speaks on $17bn disbursement
03 Mar 2022 at 05:35hrs | Views
Local authorities that are yet to show how they spent their money from the Zimbabwe National Administration (Zinara) last year will not get anything from the $17 billion the road authority is ready to allocate this year.
Councils, along with the Department of Roads and the District Development Fund from central Government, are expected to account for every cent they receive from Zinara and show how way it was spent on roads, with all the normal document trails an auditor might need.
There has been concern that local authorities strapped for cash flow may have disbursed previous tranches of Zinara cash, which not only breaches the rules but also opens the door to rewarding incompetence and corruption.
Zinara spokesperson Mr Tendai Mugabe said only those who have met Zinara expectation were to benefit from this year's allocations.
"If road authorities fail to use last year's disbursements they will not get new disbursements," he said.
Of the $17 billion, over $6,3 billion will be allocated to the Department of Roads and $4,5 billion for the District Development Fund.
Among the major urban authorities Harare City Council, the third largest beneficiary after the two main Government departments, will receive $1,1 billion, Bulawayo City Council $338 million, Gweru City Council $196,2 million, Mutare City Council $163,5 million and Masvingo City Council $122 million.
Zinara board chairperson Dr George Manyaya last week hoped that disbursement of the money was set to commence mid this month.
Dr Manyaya said the money would be disbursed to all provinces and local authorities for road maintenance under the next phase of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP).
The ERRP is in line with the ethos of the National Development Strategy 1 whose key aspirations include infrastructural development as a key enabler in attaining Vision 2030.
He said Zinara had set and finalised the funding strategies for this year as it was conscious of the urgency in attending to road works.
Zinara does not do road work itself, but it is the collection authority for the two sources of revenue that must be spent on roads, the vehicle licence fees and the toll charges.
It disburses this money to the road authorities and then follows up to ensure that the money is spent on road works.
Councils, along with the Department of Roads and the District Development Fund from central Government, are expected to account for every cent they receive from Zinara and show how way it was spent on roads, with all the normal document trails an auditor might need.
There has been concern that local authorities strapped for cash flow may have disbursed previous tranches of Zinara cash, which not only breaches the rules but also opens the door to rewarding incompetence and corruption.
Zinara spokesperson Mr Tendai Mugabe said only those who have met Zinara expectation were to benefit from this year's allocations.
"If road authorities fail to use last year's disbursements they will not get new disbursements," he said.
Of the $17 billion, over $6,3 billion will be allocated to the Department of Roads and $4,5 billion for the District Development Fund.
Zinara board chairperson Dr George Manyaya last week hoped that disbursement of the money was set to commence mid this month.
Dr Manyaya said the money would be disbursed to all provinces and local authorities for road maintenance under the next phase of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP).
The ERRP is in line with the ethos of the National Development Strategy 1 whose key aspirations include infrastructural development as a key enabler in attaining Vision 2030.
He said Zinara had set and finalised the funding strategies for this year as it was conscious of the urgency in attending to road works.
Zinara does not do road work itself, but it is the collection authority for the two sources of revenue that must be spent on roads, the vehicle licence fees and the toll charges.
It disburses this money to the road authorities and then follows up to ensure that the money is spent on road works.
Source - The Herald
