Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
GWERU council has suspended eight employees from the city parking department for alleged corrupt activities which saw an unconfirmed number of vehicles enjoying free parking prejudicing the cash-strapped local authority of thousands of dollars in potential revenue.
The eight are undergoing disciplinary hearings at the town house.
At the same time, it has been established that there are point of sale machines used for revenue collection which are active but the local authority can’t ascertain which bank account the money is being offloaded to.
It has also been established that there are a lot of leakages which are deliberate and well-coordinated which bleed the council of potential revenue.
The council is choking under a $250 million debt.
In an interview yesterday, mayor Councillor Josiah Makombe said they have written to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works for auditors to come and do a forensic audit on the council’s books.
“Our audit section has realised that we have POS machines which are active but can’t ascertain which bank account they are offloading to, and we have a lot of leakages which are deliberate and well-coordinated, hence the need for such an audit.
“For our parking so far eight employees have allegedly been caught. I can’t say much because the issues are already before some disciplinary processes. But I can confirm that there is overwhelming evidence of corruption which is also coordinated,” he said.
Cllr Makombe said it is possible that the council could be losing millions of dollars to the syndicate which includes cashiers and accounts personnel.
“It’s very possible but I can’t ascertain the period when this has been happening. We can only know once the forensic audit is carried out.
“So, we have asked the Ministry to send us auditors for a forensic audit of our books and get to the bottom of this because we are afraid, we will continue losing cash through leakages,” he said.
Had all motorists paid for parking, defaulters clamped and revenue well accounted for, council could have realised millions of dollars to cover its ballooning salary arrears and other obligations to improve service delivery.
But it has emerged that the severe leakages are directly benefitting certain individuals while bleeding the local authority.
Council charges $1 per hour parking. If a light vehicle is clamped, the owner has to part with US$15.
Meanwhile, the local authority allegedly lost over $10 million in shady land deals in the past 10 years.
A 2019 land audit which was commissioned by Government revealed that from 2009 to 2019, Gweru disposed of residential, commercial, institutional and industrial stands with an estimated value of $21 million.
However, the council only received half the value of the land as a result of dodgy deals by corrupt council officials.
“The expected value of all the stands disposed of during the period from 2009 to date of audit (2019) was over $21 889 823.
“To date, council has realised over $11 811 848 for the stands disposed and had an outstanding land balance of around $10 077 974 due, and payable by the beneficiaries.
“The use of the manual record system which was not in order and the Promun system was not reliable as stands sold on a cash basis were not captured in the system,” reads part of the audit report released this week.
The audit revealed that during the period, the local authority created over 7 206 stands for disposal with 158 stands not accounted for.
“About 15 commercial stands were created on the Gymkhana (Gweru Sports Ground) recreational site without following change of reservation procedures, thus depriving residents of recreational facilities,” reads the report.
The stands were said to have been surveyed, yet there were no layout plans.
In another case, three stands 9290 to 9292, measuring 2 500, and 5 000 and 4 000 square metres respectively were said to have been created on an open space without change of reservation approval.
Online Reporter