Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has revealed that the City Council is losing over US$10 million annually due to financial leakages, worsened by the absence of a functional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. This revenue loss has significantly impacted service delivery in the capital.
Speaking before the Commission of Inquiry investigating Harare City Council’s operations since 2017, Mafume highlighted that the city’s opaque billing system has created loopholes for corruption and embezzlement by senior officials.
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The Auditor General’s reports have repeatedly flagged financial mismanagement, with over US$200 million unaccounted for, raising concerns of systemic corruption within the municipality.
However, Mafume believes the actual losses could be even higher.
“I cannot provide exact figures because management has ensured that no audits have been conducted since 2019. However, we have evidence of millions being lost through duplicate payments and waived fees for certain ratepayers,” said Mafume.
Following the withdrawal of Quill Associates, which previously supplied the City Council with a billing system, the city adopted SAGE, a system riddled with inefficiencies, making it difficult to track finances.
In 2022, Parliament suggested that billions could be unaccounted for due to poor financial oversight.
Mafume also accused top city officials of deliberately blocking efforts to implement an ERP system, allowing corruption to thrive.
“I have done everything possible to get an ERP system in place, but our procurement department and management are deliberately obstructing it,” he said.
The ongoing lack of financial accountability has also affected service delivery, with reports of over 100,000 households missing from the city’s billing system, depriving the council of crucial revenue.
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