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The Zimbabwe National Road Administration has regularised its procurement processes and is now operating in line with the relevant statutes and regulations that govern the country’s public procurement.
This followed the establishment of a fully-fledged Procurement Management Unit, which now handles all purchases by various departments within the organisation.
Zinara board chairman Dr George Manyaya shared this important update when the Zinara board and executive appeared before the parliamentary portfolio committee on public accounts (PAC) yesterday.
The committee which is chaired by Kuwadzana East legislator Mr Charton Hwende also requested an update on the implementation of the 71 issues that were raised in the Grant Thornton forensic audit report where Zinara submitted that 66 were implemented while five were still outstanding.
Zinara apprised the august house that the outstanding ones required collaborative efforts from other stakeholders to conclude.
Said Dr Manyaya: “I am confident to share that since 2020, a fully fledged procurement management system has been instituted, including requisite policies and qualified personnel.
“To address the issues identified in the forensic audit, a comprehensive set of interventions was implemented, at the core of which was the establishment of a new PMU structure, led by skilled and experienced personnel. This new team was tasked with ensuring that procurement decisions were made with the necessary expertise, resulting in more efficient and cost-effective contracting practices.”
Some of the issues that were flagged by the forensic audit of 2017 noted that the administration was not equipped with neither the systems nor the competent personnel to support its procurement requirements in accordance with the provisions of the policies governing public procurement in Zimbabwe.
Issues relating to prepayments and unauthorised supplier payments were cited in the questions presented to Zinara during the session. The Zinara team assured the committee that systems were now in full compliance with the provisions of public procurement statutes.
“In parallel to the restructuring of the PMU, a procurement policy was developed and implemented,” said Dr Manyaya.
“The procurement policy, aiming to optimise costs through efficient purchasing practices, introduced several key measures to improve Zinara’s procurement landscape.”
He added that contractual challenges cited in the audit findings were effectively dealt with and regularised, including the Univern contract, which initially did not have an end date.
“Zinara is now in sound compliant contracts. The review of this contract (Univern) was undertaken through the guidance of and approval of PRAZ,” said Dr Manyaya.
”The Univern contract initially had no end date, but through Parliament recommendations, we sat down with all stakeholders and there is now a revised contract which ends in December 2025. After this, we go back to tender, renegotiate and go for competitive bidding.”
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