Netizens castigate Zinara for proposing electronic...

Netizens castigate Zinara for proposing electronic media debate

Zinara in fix over DBSA debt | The Herald

Zim Now Writer

The Zimbabwe National Road Administration has challenged Harare City Council mayor Jacob Mafume to a national debate on the disbursements of funds collected from motorists by the agency.

Zinara said Mafume is misleading the public with his allegations.

"Accordingly, we are appealing to the fourth estate who are willing to provide a public debate between Zinara and one of the 93 road authorities represented by our brother Jacob Mafume who has raised various issues. We feel we owe our consumers factual explanations.

“The roads fund distribution issue has been needlessly dramatised at the expense of Zimbabweans who need their roads to be rehabilitated and to be recipients of facts. The new Zinara board has been on a transparency and openness drive,” Zinara said in a twitter post.

Netizens have, meanwhile, castigated Zinara for the challenge, with many daring the organisation to publicise their financial statements on how they distributed their funds to local authorities.

This follows Mafume’s allegations against ZINARA for what he described as mishandling of revenue collected from motorists and maintenance.

Mafume alleged that last year, Zinara collected US$64 million from Harare motorists and only distributed US$2million to HCC.

He has called for the disbandment of the organisation and for the management of road infrastructure to be returned to the council.

Responses from netizens:

@AdvMutape: “What debate? Cut us some slack just produce audited statements of revenue collection and where you have directed the funds to. I don’t see any need to debate when we pay vehicle licenses and penalties on top we have to foot the high cost of suspension.

DisbandZEC: “Before the debate, please tell us how much you are collecting from each authority, how much you are using for roads and how much you are retaining. Please don’t forget to post answers before the debate. These should be publicly available.

@Mai John9: “City roads before Zinara were well maintained; it all started when Zinara started to collect motor vehicle fees. You should give that back to the council.

Andre Mujuru: “I think you should show us how much you have disbursed to Harare City council compared to what you have collected. Explanations are not necessary. We have to replace our shocks every month because our roads are terrible.