Staff Reporter|THE disciplinary hearing into the conduct of suspended Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) chief executive officer Nancy Masiyiwa-Chamisa fell apart yesterday after it emerged a member of the independent committee headed by Justice Moses Chinhengo, which was set up to probe her, is related to a witness in the matter.

Masiyiwa-Chamisa, who is now being represented by human rights lawyer Advocate Sylvester Hashiti had sought a postponement of the hearing, but Zinara, represented by Advocate Thembinkosi Magwaliba, refused to budge.

Hashiti confirmed that the hearing had stalled.

“We found out that one of the members of the panel was related to a witness so we shared notes with our colleagues representing Zinara.

The next step is for us to agree on what should happen now, specifically the composition of the independent committee.

“It is our considered view that the whole panel must be disbanded because it is compromised,” Hashiti said.

The member of the committee reportedly claimed to have “forgotten” he had a relative employed at Zinara.

Masiyiwa-Chamisa was suspended in June this year, initially without benefits before they were re-instated, for allegedly seeking the dismissal of two senior directors without then Transport minister Joram Gumbo’s approval.

New Transport minister Joel Biggie Matiza has indicated he is aware of the problems bedevilling Zinara, a key parastatal under his portfolio.

“I have met with the board and have assigned my deputy (Fortune Chasi) to look into Zinara and make sure we are on sound footing for take-off. But I can assure you that in all our parastatals, corruption is not going to be tolerated. We will not be apologetic about that,” Matiza said last week.