‘RA on auto-pilot for one year’
The Roads Authority (RA) has been operating without a board of directors for almost a year, a development some quarters say could be a recipe for fraud considering that it is a strategic parastatal implementing various high-value flagship projects.
The concerns follow government delays to appoint a new board of directors after Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara fired the former board members on April 25 2022, for failing to discharge their duties and obligations under the Roads Authority Act.
Governance experts say the development is a recipe for fraud as RA is operating without oversight and policy guidance.
In an interview on Wednesday governance commentator Willy Kambwandira asked: “Who is calling the shots in the absence of the board?”
He added: “It is likely that someone is benefitting from this governance and policy gap.”
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace national coordinator Boniface Chibwana said the status quo means that the strategic direction of the parastatal has been compromised as critical issues of allocation of resources as well as which projects to be prioritised are not given the deserved attention.
He said: “The essence of a board is to ensure that things are ticking and going in the right direction. Who is making decisions on which roads have to be prioritised for maintenance? The condition of the country’s roads is just pathetic and we need a board to be making the right decisions.”
But in an interview on Wednesday, Hara played down the concerns saying there is an interim board overseeing operations at the parastatal in accordance with the new RA Act.
In November last year Parliament amended and passed Bill 38 of 2022 Roads Authority(Amendment) and removed Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) and Transport Association as nominating organisations.
Under the new law, the RA board will be managed and controlled by members who will include a chartered accountant registered under Public Accountants and Auditors Act, a legal practitioner, a procurement specialist, a professional engineer, a contractor and two members of public of high integrity.
Department of Statutory Corporations spokesperson Headwick Madziataika Banda echoed the minister’s sentiments saying the delays were as a result of a review of the Act.
The former board was dissolved following an inquiry which was commissioned under Section 16(1) of the Roads Authority Act into how the directors were discharging their duties.
The inquiry found, among others, serious corporate governance failures, failure to supervise management of the Roads Authority in accordance with its mandate and project procurement oversight failures. The inquiry also established that non-compliance of the board led to a dysfunctional system at the authority, including delays in road projects completion, poor workmanship, misprocurement and exorbitant claims.
