Nepotism due to lack of approved Human Resources (HR) policies and procedures is haunting the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority (ZINARA).
The Grant Thorndon report on ZINARA revealed that the state entity currently does not have approved Human Resources Policies and Procedures manual and this has been happening since 2002 when ZINARA came into existence.
“The entity currently does not have an approved Human Resources Policies and Procedures manual; however there is a draft policy which is being developed.”
“ZINARA has been in existence since 2002 however they are still operating without Human Resources policy,” reads the report.
Due to this lack on the part of human resources, there is an alleged nepotism on staff recruitment rocking the entity such that an anonymous letter dated October 2016 and sent to ZINARA stated that information is not easily obtainable even by auditors as it is hidden to protect relatives.
The report also claimed that promotions are not on merit as they are spearheaded from the HR department whose occupants are also beneficiaries of the corrupt system.
“I would like to bring to your attention the nepotism web at ZINARA which is hindering the organization from moving on smoothly since information is not easily obtainable even by Auditors and it is hidden to protect relatives and friends such that even those not connected are sidelined and threatened.”
“The scenario has cascaded down to an extent that promotions are now never on merit, contracts and benefits are given selectively. This abuse is spearheaded with the tacit approval of the HR department whose occupants are also beneficiaries of the rotten system and their qualifications are also questionable,” reads the letter.
The report also claimed that ZINARA HR manager Juliana Maposa joined the entity in 2013 but there is no HR policy to date and this has resulted in inconsistencies when it comes to dealing with personal issues such as recruitment issues.
“Responding to enquiries of the investigation team, Mrs. Juliana Maposa ZINARA’ Human Recourses manager represented that the current draft policy was not in place when she joined the organization in October 2013.”
“This resulted in inconsistencies when it comes to dealing with various personal issues such as: recruitment interviews being carried out by one person, personnel being recruited without requisite qualifications and payment of benefits not stipulated in the contracts,” reads the report.