Treasury’s clean-up is plausible
Treasury’s decision to launch a sweeping audit of US$1.7bn in hidden arrears is not just a bureaucratic correction, it is the clearest admission yet that Zimbabwe’s public finance machinery has been running on broken gears.
For once, government is acknowledging that the system is compromised and that the clean-up cannot be postponed.
The move is plausible, even necessary, because the scale of unvalidated spending has left the State dangerously exposed.
What makes Treasury’s plan credible is its direct confrontation with long-ignored realities: procurement processes have been flouted, commitments have been made outside the laws governing public finance, and some ministries have operated as if oversight were optional.
The revelation that obligations worth billions were never recorded in the PFMS — in outright violation of regulations — confirms what the private sector, civil society and even some insiders have long suspected: Zimbabwe has been budgeting blindly.
Against this backdrop, the Treasury’s clean-up attempt is both logical and overdue. The proposed rule-based arrears clearance framework, mandatory quarterly reporting, stricter PFMS integration and prior Treasury concurrence for all major contracts reflect a shift towards discipline. These are the types of reforms that a functional state should have implemented years ago — and their late arrival only underscores their importance now.
Yet plausibility alone is not enough. The success of this clean-up will depend on whether government is prepared to confront uncomfortable truths: who authorised commitments outside the law? Who benefited from the chaos? How did arrears grow to such levels under the watch of multiple ministries, departments and agencies?
Economist Gift Mugano’s sharp warning that US$1.7bn in unverified obligations is “a sign of poor governance and mismanagement” is a reminder that this crisis is not accidental — it is systemic. And the soaring US$900m rise in domestic debt and US$1.28bn owed to contractors shows that the private sector has been forced to finance state failure.
Treasury’s clean-up is plausible. It is sensible. It is necessary.
But it will only succeed if this moment becomes a pivot — away from opaque dealings, away from casual law-breaking, and towards a culture where public funds are tracked, audited and protected. Zimbabwe cannot continue to operate on hidden debts and invisible commitments.
The audit must not become another symbolic gesture.
It must be ruthless, transparent and honest.
