Harare, Aug 01 – A scathing Auditor General’s report has laid bare how managers at Epworth Local Board brazenly diverted nearly $100,000 from a critical development fund to buy themselves luxury vehicles—while the poverty-stricken dormitory town crumbles under neglect.
The funds were illegally siphoned from the Estate Fund, legally reserved for infrastructure like roads, sewers, and land purchases under Section 300(2) of the Urban Councils Act. Instead, council bosses awarded themselves $93,400 in car loans—none repaid—leaving Epworth’s residents trapped in squalor, with raw sewage, crumbling roads, and rampant disease.
Auditors slammed the move as a blatant abuse of office, warning it “compromises service delivery” in a community already starved of investment. Shockingly, managers admitted the theft but claimed they had “authorization”—despite the law explicitly banning such misuse.
Their promise to repay the money remains unfulfilled, exposing a culture of impunity in Zimbabwe’s local governance.
As Epworth’s residents suffer, its leaders drive on stolen funds—a scandalous betrayal of public trust and a damning indictment of systemic corruption.
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