The Sunday News
Harare Bureau
THE National Social Security Authority (Nssa) board is now seized with cleaning up bad corporate governance issues raised by forensic auditors in a report released in March this year.
Government commissioned the audit to investigate cases of gross mismanagement and the report was tabled in Parliament in August.
It revealed that Nssa was prejudiced of over US$175 million as top executives exploited the organisation’s corporate governance loopholes to loot.
Auditors made numerous recommendations to change the parastatal’s corporate governance system which saw previous management awarding themselves unapproved loans amounting to US$306 000.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima recently wrote to the Nssa board expressing displeasure at the delays in implementing the audit recommendations.
Nssa chair Dr Cuthbert Chidoori said, “The minister has laid for us an agenda which we are currently seized with. The board is in a process of doing quite a number of things as we follow through the minister’s instructions.
“This is a progressive step towards the transformation of Nssa. There is a lot that needs to happen, but we believe that there is room for us to act systematically and make sure that Nssa delivers on its mandate.”
Dr Chidoori said the authority had reshaped its agenda in line with President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 to offer quality services.
“We will be making contact with the media from time to time so that they can help us spread the news coming out of Nssa; it is a good organisation,” he said.
“And I think the vision of our President can be achieved going forward.”
Announcing the appointment of Mr Arthur Manase as Nssa’s new Acting General Manager last week, Prof Mavima said the implementation of the audit report was underway.
Mr Manase replaced Mr David Makwara who has been acting general manager following the departure of Mrs Elizabath Chitiga. Mr Makwara is the Nssa director-investments.
“The board is seized with the implementation of the recommendations of the forensic audit report which was produced in March 2019,” said Prof Mavima.
“The implementation process has triggered a transformation journey for Nssa and requires the board to address the diverse human resource requirements, including the recruitment of a substantive general manager, who should lead the management team.”
The Nssa audit report exposed deep-rooted corruption perpetrated by former ministers and permanent secretaries.
The report implicates former Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira and the authority’s former board chairman Mr Robin Vela, who is on the run and is suspected to be holed up in South Africa.
Our Harare Bureau understands that law enforcement agents were engaging Interpol to fish out Mr Vela to answer to corruption charges.
The former board chairman has challenged the Nssa audit in court.
