Harare accounts in shambles
MOSES MATENGA
The City of Harare is in shambles with a recent audit exposing lack of internal systems and inaccurate records of financial transactions amid fears the cash-strapped city could be losing millions of dollars that is going unaccounted for.
This comes as the city has also failed to account for several joint ventures it used to operate and the financial implications of halting them with suspicion that millions of dollars may have ended in individual pockets.
The latest follows investigations by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) over failure to account for over US$200m that disappeared under unclear circumstances due to a suspicious billing system.
The latest Auditor General report for the financial year ending December, 2022 revealed that the city’s books of accounts remain in shambles, no accountability in place leading to grand theft while the city is faced with a severe crisis due to poor service delivery.
According to the acting Auditor General, Rhea Kujinga, the city officials did not provide sufficient appropriate audit and evidence that management fulfilled their responsibility for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with international public sector accounting standards, the Urban Councils Act, and the Public Finance and Management Act.
“The city of Harare accounting and financial management system collapsed following the withdrawal of BIQ accounting and financial reporting system in March 2019. I was not able to obtain sufficient and appropriate evidence as to whether all the recorded balances and transactions during the year under review had actually occurred, been classified correctly and had been completely and accurately recorded. In addition, I was not able to confirm the reported balances by alternative means,” the Auditor General said.
“There was no credible financial reporting system since the city of Harare’s accounting and financial reporting system (BIQ) was withdrawn in March 2019. There was no functional general ledgers. Balance reported in the historical cost financial statements were derived from excel spreadsheets prepared by management and are not supported by underlying records and cannot be independently verified. Council should have a backup facility.”
Following the withdrawal of the BIQ system in 2019, the city did not have functional integrated cash books, no verifiable reconciliations were done because of absence of sub-ledgers.
“Consequently, fraud and error may go undetected,” she said.
The Auditor General also flagged that there was no proper valuation of council properties and land and there was fear that some of the properties may be in the wrong hands.
