Minister of Transport And Public Works Jacob Hara has fired the Roads Authority Board following a one man board of inquiry by Counsel Raphael Joseph Mhone which found the Board incompetent.
According to the statement signed by the Minister, upon completion of the inquiry, it has been confirmed that the “Roads Authority Boards failed to observe and the perform the duties conferred or imposed upon it under the Authority Act or any written law.”
Among others the Board is being accused of failing to handle corporate and financial governance, failure to supervise the management of Roads Authority in accordance with its mandate and project procurement oversight failure.
“The non-compliance on the part of the Board has led to a dysfunctional management systemen of the Roads Authority,” reads part of the statement.
According to the statement this had led to delays in commencement and completion of roads project, poor workmanship in in road construction projects, mis procurements, exorbitant claims, unnecessary claims leading to avoidable loss of money.
According to Hara the “non-compliance is not capable of being remedied by the Board of Roads Authority,” hence a recommendation to it’s firing.
The firing of the Roads Authority Board comes weeks after Minister of Water and Sanitation Abida Mia and Mark Katsonga Phiri Minister of Trade and Industry dissolved their boards which their respectively ministries argued it is normal.