By Beatific Gumbwanda
Chiredzi Town Council (CTC) accessed barely a third of its 2025 road funding allocation from
the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA), after repeatedly failing to submit
acquittals on time, even as its sister local authority, Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC),
drew down the whole of its allocation, TellZim News can report.
Chiredzi Town Council Chairperson, Jameson Charumbira, confirmed the sad reality, saying it
was not only Chiredzi Town Council, but several councils were caught in between, as the funds
were accessed in stages, and for 2026, they were sitting at around 60%
“Unfortunately, it is our council which was mentioned, but it’s not only Chiredzi Town Council;
there are several other councils which were in the same bracket with us, with others having
utilised as low as 16%.
In 2026, we are happy to announce that we have so far utilised more than 62% of our allocated
ZINARA funds,” said Charumbira.
The revelation came in Parliament last week and lays bare a governance gap between the two
Chiredzi local authorities, raising fresh questions about financial management and accountability
at Chiredzi Town Council, whose residents continue to grapple with deteriorating roads despite
government funds sitting unclaimed.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Joshua Sacco, told Parliament,
whilst responding to Chiredzi Central Member of Parliament, Ropafadzo Makumire’s question,
that ZINARA disburses funds to road authorities strictly on an acquittal basis, in line with the
National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, where a road authority fails to account for
funds already received, subsequent disbursements are withheld until that acquittal is done.
“Indeed, it is worrisome that many rural councils and town councils fail to submit acquittals on
time, resulting in prejudice where funds that are available from ZINARA are not disbursed,
hence disadvantaging our people. We have noticed that in some cases, procurement processes are
not followed properly,” said Sacco
For the financial year ended 31 December 2025, ZINARA had allocated Chiredzi Town Council
ZiG4, 960,746.98 for road works. The council received only ZiG1,836,219.20, just 37% of that
allocation, because it had delayed submitting its acquittal for the very first quarter of the year,
only filing it in December 2025, effectively locking itself out of further disbursements for the
rest of the year.
Chiredzi Rural District Council, by contrast, received its full allocation of ZiG4,030,402.96,
100% of what it was owed, which the Deputy Minister attributed directly to the rural council’s
ability to acquit previous disbursements timeously.
Both councils fared better on fuel allocations, each accessing 100% of the litres allocated for in-
house road maintenance: CTC received 7,740 of 7,742.04 litres allocated, while CRDC received
6,400 of 6,401.91 litres.
Despite the funding shortfall, CTC recorded some output during the period, including the
reconstruction of a 0.5km stretch of Inyathi Road, completed in January 2026, alongside grading
of roughly 20.63km of gravel and residential roads, gravelling of a further 7.4km, and patching
of about 20.6km of tarred roads. The council also reported drain-opening works covering 40km
and desilting of 47 culverts.
CRDC’s works were spread across a wider rural network, with projects on roads including
Samba-Nyabongwe (60km), Twiza-Crooks Corner (38km) and Chanienga-Mavhavaza (38km),
among others, plus pothole patching on the Hippo Valley road and desilting of 45 culverts.
Raising a supplementary question, Makumire said it was concerning that government funds
meant to benefit residents were going unspent simply because the local authority in her
constituency was failing to acquit on time. She pressed the Ministry on what measures were
being taken to sanction officials responsible for the delays.
“What measures are being put in place by the Ministry to ensure that those who do not acquit in
time are sanctioned, especially those responsible for the acquittals,” asked Makumire.
In response, Hon. Sacco acknowledged that the problem was not unique to Chiredzi, noting that
many rural and town councils nationally fail to submit acquittals on time, prejudicing the very
residents the funds are meant to serve. He pointed to weak adherence to procurement processes
within councils as a root cause, calling for both the training of council procurement officers and
stronger political will from council leadership.
More pointedly, the Deputy Minister flagged a pattern in which urban councils divert money
earmarked for road infrastructure toward administrative costs and, in some cases, salaries and
wages a practice he said explains why some councils are unable, or unwilling, to account for
funds as required. He appealed to Members of Parliament to press their local councils to use
road-maintenance disbursements strictly for their intended purpose.
“As in some cases, councils, especially urban councils, use money that is supposed to be for road
infrastructure for administrative costs, in some cases, salaries and wages,” added Sacco.
Pupurai Togarepi also weighed in with a follow-up, arguing that ZINARA and the Ministry
needed to tighten oversight of how funds are distributed and used, noting that Parliament had
repeatedly received reports of abuse of these funds from Members across the country.
“It is repeated everywhere, and you continue to give them money. Why are you giving thieves
money? Why are you not coming up with a situation where you have an extension officer
