ZINARA audit report- what the MPs said- Dexter Nduna

Madam Speaker Ma’am, there is revenue leakages arising from this report that the Auditor General unpacked and a lot of those revenue leakages occur because we do not have what is called weigh bridges.  Weigh bridges are established in order that we get to see that this vehicle is moving with the right weight on the right square metre of road.  Otherwise, we are not having any longevity on our roads which we are supposed to collect toll fees from.  So, it is my proposal that arising from this report we establish what is called weigh bridges at every toll plaza.  There are about nine toll plazas on the 821 kilometre Plumtree – Mutare Highway.  It is possible, it is just and it is right for us to establish weigh bridges there so that we can have longevity on our road which has passed by the way, 25 years of its life span but we are lucky that we have got this $206 million DBSA loan financed infrastructure which is impeccable and is still qualitative.  We can protect it by establishing weigh bridges so that we can collect what is meant for Zimbabwe.

The other issue Madam Speaker Ma’am is the issue of licencing.  ZINARA was established to collect funds and to actually make sure that they give a back to these three authorities; the routine maintenance funds and the routine and periodic funds.  To ensure that the money is coming optimally, there is need to ensure that all vehicles are licenced.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Hon. Nduna, you are left with five minutes.

HON. NDUNA:  The licencing Madam Speaker Ma’am, we have more than 1,000,500 vehicles and it is my thinking that if all the vehicles are licenced and they all pay their dues, we can have infrastructure developed second to none.  Madam Speaker Ma’am, we cannot for sure know that the public service vehicles and private vehicles are all licenced except if we link ZINARA with VTS, Zimra, VID, Road Motor Transport (RMT) and CVR.  That is the registration and licencing place.  There is need to expeditiously conduct the Zimbabwe Integrated Transport Management System.

This report is pregnant with a lot of consistencies and it is my hope that today because it has been unpacked, we can go to Isaiah Chapter 6 Vs 1 which says, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne.”  So, let us increase our licencing fees so that there can be a lot of money going to these three authorities arising from this issue of our report presented by our able Chair, Hon. Brian Dube.  Madam Speaker, he packs a punch; dynamite comes in small packages.

I also propose that when we are dealing with whichever department we are dealing with, we are Public Accounts and we deal with post budget issues and everyone is accountable to us through the Auditor General.  This is Transport Committee issues, we need the Chair of the Transport Committee to be in the Public Accounts Committee when we are discussing transport issues.  We need the Chair of Education Committee, assuming we are dealing with issues to do with education and the Chair for Tourism when we are dealing with tourism. On that note Madam Speaker Ma’am, you have seen how endowed I am with a lot of knowledge in terms of the transport sector.  Section 18 (2) of your Standing Orders says, chairing or inclusion of committees should be by expertise which I am and interest which I have.  So, you cannot continue to disalign me from a place that I like so much.

Madam Speaker Ma’am, I have spoken about automation and collation.  Now, the people of Chegutu West Constituency have allowed me to come here and debate in the manner that I do because we have more engineers in a square kilometer in Chegutu than other constituencies.  I hope I have done justice to this report in the manner that I have debated.  I thank you for giving me this opportunity Madam Speaker Ma’am.

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