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Innocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter
Chitungwiza Municipality is spending over half of its revenue on salaries amid revelations council has written to Government seeking a US$10 million grant to pay salary arrears. Council is reeling under a US$35 million debt. Last year it collected US$15 320 945 82 from residents of which US$8 087 995 53 was spent on salaries.
Documents in The Herald’s possession show that council collects between US$900 000 and US$1 200 000 monthly with the bulk of the money going towards salaries.
In January this year council got US$1 223 240 70 and US$768 590 went towards payment of salaries with only US$123 443 92 left for service delivery.
The municipality intends to retrench half of its 1 681workforce.
It has since written to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare requesting to lay off the workers after failing to agree with them on the retrenchment criteria. Council director for finance director, Ms Evangelista Machona, said they were 11 months behind salary payments and all workers including management were being paid half salaries.
“Our wage bill is US$1,7 million per month including statutory requirements but for the half salaries we are paying US$564 000 monthly.
“Our total creditors stand at US$35,5 million and these include statutory obligations Zimra, Zimdef and pension funds,” she said.
She said they had already made payment plans with all the institutions including Harare City Council which they owe US$2 million.
They are paying Harare US$25 000 a week.
She said the city had the potential of raising US$2 million monthly from revenue collections and non-billable services like the ambulance service.
Ms Machona said residents owed the local authority US$22 million and council had tasked councillors to mobilise people in their wards to pay bills.
She dismissed allegations by workers that management earned between US$12000 and US$31 000 saying those were salaries earned by the previous administration led by Mr Godfrey Tanyanyiwa.
“A resuscitation team assigned by Government to investigate the Tanyanyiwa led council froze their salaries and that is why some pay slips indicated that some salaries were $0,00. The team also reversed the high salaries and the current management does no earn that much.
“We do not have an offshore account but we have a council resolution showing that we bank with two banks namely FBC Bank and Metropolitan Bank.
‘‘What we did was to separate the payroll with the workers being paid in one bank and management in another,” she said.
According to a salary schedule of February 1 this year signed by Chitungwiza mayor Clr Phillip Mutoti and chairman of the finance committee,councillor Musekiwa Ruzvidzo, the management, which comprised of 18 individuals earns between US$4 300 and US$5 800.
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