‘Corrupt, clueless Councillors’

KUDAKWASHE CHIBVURI

A shambolic housing waiting list, a chaotic financial management system, dozens of both councillors and officials in the dock for corruption, it’s a whole mess at the building better known as Town House.

While their primary role is to provide policy direction and leadership to plug leakages that have seen billions of dollars abused for self-aggrandizement, councillors have joined the looting as active participants for some and passive observers for others.

Consequently, basic service delivery has been halted, potable water remains a pipedream while illegal parcelling of land is the order of the day dimming the once thriving metropolis’ Sunshine City status.

Worse is the concession by councillors who just fell short of admitting they are at Town House as mere figureheads, nothing more nothing less.

Confessions at the ongoing Commission of Inquiry on financial management at the local authority since 2017 paint a gloomy picture of the state of affairs at the city of Harare and adding up amounts mentioned in alleged criminal and corrupt acts gets to billions of dollars.

“In 2022, concerns were raised by the then committee regarding Harare Quarry’s failure to produce output despite receiving a US$4.5mn loan,” chairperson of the council’s Business Committee Lovemore Makuwerere told the commission this week.

“This led to a forensic audit which uncovered evidence of misuse of funds,” he added.

“Harare Quarry is a disaster. There is a mess. We have only received one report from Harare Quarry. The report showed that there is nothing

tangible in the company,” said Makuwerere.

Makuwerere described Harare Quarry as a “den of thieves” and expressed concern over continuous corruption going unattended.

Finance committee chairperson Costa Mande confirmed the chaos at Town House saying the city fathers failed to account for trade and other payables amounting to US$105 million.

The situation at Town House has seen the conviction and subsequent sentencing of high profile personalities including former Chamber Secretary, former Finance Director, former Director of Works among other both junior and senior officials.

Costa Mande, the chairperson of the Finance committee appeared before the commission of inquiry on Harare city affairs justifying spending millions of US dollars on workshops by the city in the first half of the year.

Mande also told the commission that he is not aware of how city of Harare paid US$370 000 to Matthew Marara in back pay even though he had allegedly resigned from council.

“As the chairperson of the finance committee I am not aware of the issue,” Mande said.

The commission of inquiry chaired by retired Justice Maphios Cheda heard some of the workshops were attended by 173 people in places such as Kadoma and Mutare.

In the past months the commission heard that the city spends at least US $11 million in weekly workshops attended by councillors and city officials at resort towns and cities when service delivery is poor in the capital.

Mande said the figure he understands was spend on workshops in the first half of the year is US$2.1 million not the US$11 million reported in the media.

Harare city is facing a myriad of problems that include water shortages, sewer bursts, potholes on roads, piling of garbage among many other issues.

The latest to testify was Councillor Blessing Muroiwa, chairman of the Education, Health, Housing, and Community Services Licensing Committee. Muroiwa displayed a concerning lack of knowledge regarding housing policies and the number of individuals on the waiting list since he assumed the chair of the housing department in September 2022, marking a year in office.

He admitted before the commission of inquiry that the housing list had not been followed, allowing individuals to operate like land barons, leading to rampant corruption within the housing department.

“Well, I don’t know about the housing policy, but what I can confirm is that we are looking forward to amending it to address issues with land barons,” he said.