City of Harare has failed to account for over US$100 million as there are no records of how the money was utilised, lifting a lid on leakages and possible grand theft of council resources.
A commission of inquiry investigating council operations since 2017 has exposed alleged widespread graft in the municipality involving top council management and councillors.
The commission chaired by retired judge Justice Maphios Cheda was appointed in May this year by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Last week, a top council official was quizzed by commissioners over the missing US$100million, but failed to provide answers blaming it on a shambolic finance system.
A 2020 auditor-general's report highlighted irregularities in council accounting systems because of the lack of an enterprise resource planning system (ERP), resulting in millions not being accounted for.
Council finance and development committee chairperson, Costa Mande, admitted that US$105 542 000 could not be accounted for.
“As per the auditorgeneral’s report, that is indeed true,” Mande said.
“We had to query the staff and I think there was a recommendation to verify those figures.
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“We had to ask the staff on how that went about.
“I think their recommendation was to verify those figures, if I recall.
“There is a great possibility that money could have been misappropriated.”
ERP is a software system used by councils to manage their operations and core business.
Mnangagwa last year introduced a service delivery blueprint titled ‘A Call To Action – No Compromise On Service Delivery’, which aims to modernise operations of local authorities.
The initiative includes improvement in various areas, notably the ERP.
Reports in July this year said the council had tabled plans to gobble US$2,6 million in ERP) systems.
Mande said they were once billed US$57 million for the ERP which was a staggering US$55 million difference.
“We have been pushing to have a proper billing system in place,” he said.
“We pushed and a tender was awarded for about US$57 million, which as a council we had not budgeted for as it wasn't sustainable to have a system for US$57 million.
“We appealed that the amount was too much to be a burden on the residents and they ordered us to go back to tender which was done.
“Again, at the end of the process they said we had missed one or two areas within the system.”
While the millions cannot be accounted for, residents have to endure poor service delivery with the local authority always pleading lack of resources.
Last week, Harare mayor Jacob Mafume suspended acting Town Clerk Hosiah Chisango over a litany of corruption allegations.
The allegations include illegally awarding a US$9.2million tender to Zanu PF linked businesspersons.
Four other council bosses have been dragged to court over the same tender scandal.
