Online Reporter
Online Reporter
THE City of Bulawayo has invested its 2025 ZINARA allocation in heavy plant and equipment, significantly reducing its reliance on hired machinery and external contractors while strengthening its internal capacity to maintain and rehabilitate road infrastructure.
The investment is part of a broader national trend in which road authorities are leveraging funds disbursed by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) to procure productive, long-term assets.
This shift towards self-sufficiency is enabling councils to respond more swiftly and cost-effectively to road maintenance challenges while cutting recurrent expenditure on equipment hire.
These developments align well with the Government’s National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and Vision 2030, which place robust modern infrastructure, enhanced public service delivery, and efficient transport networks at the centre of Zimbabwe’s socio-economic transformation.
Of the amount disbursed to Bulawayo by ZINARA for routine and periodic road maintenance during the 2025 financial year, the bulk was channeled into modern road maintenance plant, equipment, and tools.
The remaining fraction was deployed directly to routine maintenance activities.
The procurement package, which includes a CAT 140 GC Motor Grader, a CAT CS11 GC Vibratory Soil Compactor, two CAT 426 Backhoe Loaders, a CAT CW34 Pneumatic Roller, and an array of ancillary tools, now equips Bulawayo with the capacity to execute road rehabilitation, pothole patching, earthworks, and stormwater infrastructure maintenance using its own resources.
This development mirrors similar initiatives across the country, including in Gokwe South, where Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Owen Ncube, last week commissioned a front-end loader procured by the Gokwe South Rural District Council using funds disbursed by ZINARA.
These investments demonstrate that the benefits of the administration’s funds are reaching both major urban centres and rural authorities alike.
ZINARA has welcomed the initiatives being taken by the Road authorities, viewing it as a validation of its disbursement model and a practical demonstration of how road user revenue can generate lasting value for communities.
“Road authorities carry a fundamental responsibility to ensure that the funds they receive generate tangible maintenance outcomes,” stated ZINARA in an official release.
“We commend Bulawayo and Gokwe South for their foresight in investing in plant and equipment. These are productive assets that will remain available to them, ready for deployment whenever a maintenance need arises.”
ZINARA further highlighted the economic rationale behind the approach.
“When a road authority owns its own equipment, it not only responds to maintenance needs more rapidly but also reduces the recurrent expenditure associated with continuous machinery hire,” ZINARA noted.
“This ensures that a greater proportion of our disbursements is channeled directly into the physical road network, rather than being consumed by hire costs.”
ZINARA added that its objective extends beyond mere disbursement of funds.
“Our aim is to see those resources create lasting capacity within road authorities, ultimately maximising the value derived from road user revenue,” it said.
The trajectory of asset acquisition is set to continue. For the 2026 financial year, Bulawayo has received a further ZINARA allocation which has been approved for the procurement of additional road maintenance plant and service delivery vehicles.
Under this latest allocation, procurement is underway for four 19-tonne tipper trucks, three 7-tonne flatbed trucks, and two supervisory vehicles. Further augmenting this ZINARA-funded investment, the City of Bulawayo has also leveraged its own resources to procure a CAT 950 GC Wheel Loader, with a CAT D7 Tracked Dozer currently awaiting delivery.
ZINARA has indicated that it will continue encouraging road authorities to prioritise investments that build sustainable capacity while ensuring that routine and periodic road maintenance programmes are adequately funded.
