Harare on the Brink of Collapse: Mayor Struggles to Enforce Accountability

Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has revealed that more than US$250 million has been lost by the City Council due to abuse, mismanagement, and the refusal by top officials to implement an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

However, his own failure to take decisive action has also contributed to the financial chaos engulfing the city.

Mafume warned that the Council is on the brink of collapse, as its financial operations have been running without modern auditing tools. He admitted that the Council has not audited its finances since 2019, largely due to the absence of an ERP system.

Testifying before the Commission of Inquiry into the affairs of the City of Harare, Mafume stated that the country’s largest city has operated without an ERP system for the past six years, making it impossible to conduct proper audits or track revenue collection effectively.

He accused senior executives and some councilors of deliberately blocking the system to cover up financial mismanagement and avoid accountability.

“Since 2019, there have been no audits due to the lack of an ERP system. The documented loss stands at US$200 million, but estimates place the figure closer to US$250 million. Millions have been lost through duplicate payments, revenue leakages, and erased debts,” he said.

Mafume claimed that corrupt networks within the Council actively prevented the adoption of the ERP system, which would have automated financial tracking, lease management, and municipal fines.

“The executives have engineered a system that allows financial loopholes to persist, facilitating theft and mismanagement. Without an ERP, we are essentially running a city blind, with no way to track where the money goes,” he added.

Despite acknowledging that some councilors initially struggled to understand the importance of the ERP system, he noted that others intentionally obstructed it to protect corrupt dealings.

“Some councilors were misled into believing that any system could replace the previous one without proper procurement, while others feared that an ERP system would expose financial irregularities. This is why, for six years, the council has failed to implement a critical system that could have curbed corruption,” he said.

However, leading evidence lawyer Thabani Mpofu questioned why Mafume had not taken action against the executives obstructing the system, given that he had the power to suspend the Town Clerk. Mafume admitted that the executives had built a firewall around themselves to evade accountability.

“I was able to suspend the Town Clerk because the law allows it, but the rest of the executives must be dealt with by their superiors. They have manipulated the system to shield themselves from responsibility,” he said.

Mafume compared operating a city without an ERP system to running a bank without records, calling the situation in Harare “unheard of.”

“For six years, we have had no system to track revenue and expenditure, which is why service delivery has deteriorated so badly,” he admitted.

While he claimed to have pushed for change, Mafume’s own leadership shortcomings have played a role in the continued failure to implement the ERP system. Despite multiple Council resolutions supporting the system’s adoption, officials have ignored them, and Mafume has been unable to enforce action effectively.

“We have passed more than six resolutions calling for an ERP system. The Ministry of Local Government and the Auditor General have all recommended its implementation, yet management refuses to act. They will approve other projects but not this one because they know it will expose corruption,” he said.

He noted that ministerial backing had now been secured to install the ERP system, and he expected the contract to be signed soon, with implementation anticipated within the next few weeks.

Mafume insisted that he had done everything in his power to fight corruption, despite resistance from within the Council. However, his inability to ensure accountability earlier has contributed to the ongoing financial mismanagement in Harare.

“I have been a lone voice in this fight, but I remain committed to ensuring that Harare is governed transparently and that ratepayers’ money is properly accounted for,” he concluded.