Online Reporter
WHAT is coming out of the hearings at the Commission of Inquiry into the affairs of the City of Harare is disturbing, to say the least.
On Monday, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume claimed that more than US$250 million has been lost by the Council due to abuse, mismanagement and the refusal by top officials to implement an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
He even said the Council was on the verge of collapse, as its financial operations were running without any modern auditing tools.
Incredibly, Mafume said the Council has not audited its finances since 2019.
Mafume said the country’s biggest city has been operating without an ERP system since 2019, making it impossible to conduct audits or track revenue collection effectively.
He accused top executives, and some councilors, of deliberately blocking the system to cover up financial mismanagement and ensure a lack of accountability.
Mafume said while the documented loss stands at US$200 million, estimates showed that the actual figure was closer to $250 million. He said millions have been lost through duplicate payments, revenue leakages and erased debts.
Some senior council executives and some councillors, he said, formed a corrupt network that actively prevented the adoption of an ERP system, which would have automated financial tracking, lease management, and municipal fines.
He claimed the Council executives have created a system where financial loopholes exist, allowing theft and mismanagement to continue unchecked.
The Mayor said many Councillors were misled into believing that any system could replace the previous one, without proper procurement, while others feared that an ERP would expose financial irregularities.
In the past few days we have heard a lot of disturbing things which the Council’s leaders are saying have been unfolding in the City of Harare.
We heard about that questionable deal to splash a cool US$1 million to buy a house in Ruwa whose value to the Council is yet to be established.
Why would a city like Harare, which has its own land, prefer to splash US$1 million to buy a house in Ruwa?
Was this property more of a priority than ensuring that its residents have access to clean water and litter is cleared from our streets?
Was this property more of a priority than the Council ensuring that Lake Chivero is not polluted and it remains a reliable and safe source for drinking water for the city’s residents and visitors?
Was buying a US$1 million house in Ruwa more of a priority than buying delivery trucks to ensure that litter is cleared from Harare’s streets on a regular basis?
Then, we heard about the money which has been sunk into the Harare Quarry without any dividends being reaped by the Council.
Now, we have this US$250 million loss and it appears the worst is yet to come.
It’s heartbreaking for residents to know that the people they gave the mandate to run their beloved city have turned into monsters who are only concerned about boosting their bank balances.
Something has to give.
Mathew Masinge