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Blessings Chidakwa

Herald Reporter

HARARE City Council bosses have abandoned their core mandate of service delivery and resorted to self-service through a number of corrupt activities at the expense of ratepayers, Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe has said.

“In light of this, the Minister is determined to assist in restoring the city to functional status where it is able to undertake the duties, roles and responsibilities for effective service delivery in a manner that benefits all ratepayers and citizens of the City of Harare,” he said in a statement.

Minister Garwe appealed to all residents to be patient and support Government efforts of restoring order at Harare City Council.

In the 2023 audit report for local authorities, Acting Auditor General Mrs Rhea Kujinga raised red flags on many areas at the council, among them failure to account for land sales.

It has been chaotic at Harare City Council, with its accounting systems and financial affairs in shambles.

The city has gone for five years without a billing system and is only now reinstalling what it abandoned.

Further, out of over 50 refuse trucks required to keep the city clean, Harare has less than 10 operational vehicles at any given time. Roads have been progressively disintegrating since 2000 when the first opposition council was voted into office.

At the moment, some roads are not navigable, with only those fixed by the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa in the last few years easily usable.

Dry taps, uncollected garbage, sewer bursts, malfunctioning street lights have been the norm, while councillors and managers were sponsoring their lavish lifestyles.

A commission of inquiry has been appointed by President Mnangagwa into the city’s affairs since 2017.

There are reports that councillors and managers are reshuffling key personnel in the legal and housing departments to cover up misdeeds.