Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
HARARE City Council has allegedly been losing nearly US$200 000 per day since 2019 due to the delayed implementation of a modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, with estimates suggesting total losses could be around US$500 million.
This comes amid revelations that the City’s top executives are reportedly in a quandary over US$200 million which has been unaccounted for since 2020 and are said to be pulling strings to block the ERP system’s reactivation.
Suspended Town Clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango recently told the Commission of Inquiry into Harare Governance Affairs that the city could be losing over $70 million annually due to the absence of a modern ERP financial system. This means that the city loses nearly US$5 million per month which translates to about US$200 000 daily.
This estimate is based on the assumption that with a functional system, the city would collect 75 percent of its revenue, resulting in a 25 percent shortfall.
Given the city’s annual budget exceeds US$500 million, a 25 percent shortfall would translate to US$125 million, but Eng Chisango’s estimate of US$70 million was more conservative.
An ERP system is a type of software that organisations use to manage day-to-day business activities such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management and compliance, and supply chain operations.
The city council has been operating without a requisite accounting system since 2019 after a supplier of its ERP system, Quill Associates, withdrew its software following a contractual wrangle.
Despite warnings that the city’s finances would be severely compromised without an ERP system — with even an eight-hour outage deemed potentially catastrophic — Harare has operated without one for five years, amid allegations of widespread looting.
Currently, the city is using a manual system.
Last September, the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works requested that the Procurement Regulatory Authority (PRAZ) permit the city to hire Quill Associates to reactivate the outdated ERP system.
The goal was to verify the missing $200 million, implement a temporary bridge to open technology for a year, and subsequently go to tender once legacy issues were resolved.
However, eight months on, the council remains stalled in implementing the ERP system, with executives accused of deliberately blocking the process to allegedly embezzle remaining funds ahead of the commission’s findings, which they fear may lead to imprisonment.
Councillors are also growing frustrated, pointing out the irony that officials had no issue procuring luxury vehicles worth US$500 000, yet they cite obstacles in acquiring an effective ERP system and tar for pothole repairs.
“Where on earth have you seen direct procurement taking nine months?” an insider queried.
“It just means that these officials want to continue looting, and they know that once the commission’s report is out, they will all be sacked.”
It also alleged that the current deal won’t account for the US$200 million, but merely stem the losses.
“Under pressure, they’ll likely install the system but stall on verifying the missing figures to avoid exposure, then falsely claim they’ve halted the financial losses.
“The procurement department is currently working with executives to sabotage the process and their eight-month delay in direct procurement is a clear sign of incompetence,” he added.
Tensions flared during a recent full council meeting, with councillors accusing the city’s executive of dishonesty.
They pointed out the hypocrisy, noting that the executives had procured luxury vehicles without any issues with PRAZ, yet faced challenges in making direct procurements for the ERP system and even tar for patching potholes.
“The challenge at the city council is that there is a cartel or a system that has to be broken,” Councillor Denford Ngadziore said. “If we do not do that, we will not succeed. The management at one time bought themselves vehicles without any challenges. The challenge is, if we do not break that system, we will remain in one place.”
The city reportedly bought 12 high-end Toyota Fortuner GD6 vehicles for all directors plus a 13th luxurious Toyota Prado VX200 for the town clerk last year at a cost of around US$70 000 for the lowest priced vehicle.
City officials encountered no obstacles in spending an estimated half a million dollars on luxury vehicles.
The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) yesterday threw the City under the bus, revealing that despite being given the green light for direct procurement in October last year, the council only submitted its first request in June this year, a staggering eight months later.
The green light for direct procurement came after both Parliament and the Auditor General Mrs Mildred Chiri recommended that the council re-engage Quill and reinstall BIQ so that the bank reconciliations could be done and also the nearly US$200 million could be accounted for.
PRAZ, however, said it had objected, citing a significant price discrepancy as the reason for the delay. It noted that the company hired by City Council charged over $1,2 million for services that were valued at $800 000 in 2022.
“City of Harare submitted a request in June 2025, recommending to award Quill Associates (BIQ) P/L price of US$1,702,000.00 inclusive of Taxes for the Bridging ERP System,” a PRAZ official told the Herald yesterday.
“However, SPOC on 17 June 2025, noted that the previous proposal for the Bridging ERP System was US$862 730.
“SPOC on 17 June 2025 deferred the matter and asked City of Harare to confirm whether the current proposal of US$1 702 000 inclusive of VAT was for a period of one year as advised by PRAZ and explain why the cost for the Bridging ERP System escalated from US$862,730 in 2022 to the current sum of US$1,726,840.00 inclusive of VAT to conduct a due diligence on prices to establish whether value for money was being achieved and then submit the request for scrutiny by the SPOC in terms of section 54 of the PPDPA Act. “
When contacted for comment, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume blamed the city’s procurement department for the mess.
“The issue lies with our procurement department, which seems to be protecting certain managers. Our situation is akin to asking a thief to build a jail where they’ll be imprisoned. Obviously, if you force them to build a jail, they will construct one without a door so they can escape.”
He also stated that the Procurement Department was deliberately withholding sufficient information from PRAZ.
“What PRAZ is demanding is a simple explanation. They were simply supposed to clarify to PRAZ that Quill Associates would now implement all the modules and explain that this is the reason for the slight increase in the amount.”
However, the City’s acting Town Clerk, Engineer Phakamile Mabhena-Moyo, attributed the delay to prolonged negotiations over price, saying all due process was followed.
“It didn’t take us eight months, “ he said.
“We were simply negotiating with the supplier to reduce the price. There’s a committee in place, comprising our team from the City of Harare, Local Government, and ICT – it’s a joint procurement – so it took us time to reach an agreement with the supplier.”
Eng Mabhena-Moyo also said the committee would be meeting this week and that what PRAZ has requested would likely be submitted next week.
Ms Princess Mahari, managing director at Quill Associates, said there was something sinister about the new prices.
She explained that unlike the previous quotation, which included only a few modules, the scope of the current quotation encompasses full system implementation of all BIQ modules, a fact that was deliberated on in the presence of all stakeholders.
“After consultations with the Harare City Council and the Ministry of Local Government in 2024, it was agreed that Quill associates will provide a bridging enterprise resource planning system for 12 months to provide a functional ERP solution given the Council’s current adverse operating conditions which was quoted at $1,480,000 (Exclusive of VAT) after negotiations,” Mrs Mahari said.
“The scope of the current quotation includes the full system implementation of the current BIQ Modules.
“The aforementioned quoted price of $1,480,000 (Exclusive of VAT) was agreed upon by representatives from the Harare City Council, the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of ICT, and the E-technology Unit in the Office of the President and Cabinet in May 2025. PRAZ may need to be appraised on the minutes of that particular meeting to understand the difference in the scope of work.”
