Harare City Council top executives gobble US$500k in salaries; Town Clerk taking home US$30K

By Staff Reporter

THE Harare City Council (HCC)  mayor ,Jacob Mafume has laid bare the hefty salaries being creamed off by the local authority’s top management.

He told the Commission of Inquiry that US$500 000 is being gobbled by salary payments towards top executives

He said the Town Clerk  is earning a staggering US$27,000.

“I asked the Human Resources director for a report on salaries,” Mafume testified. “He refused to give it to me, saying it was an instruction from the Town Clerk. He then showed me the document in confidence, and from what I saw, the highest-paid executive is receiving US$27,000.”

Mafume added that the lowest-paid member of the executive is taking home a handsome US$15,000.

Commission lead evidence Thabani Mpofu asked Mafume to confirm that these hefty salaries did not include any additional benefits, to which Mafume replied in the affirmative, adding that with other perks factored in, the total remuneration would likely tip the scales at over US$30,000.

Justice Cheda then probed Mafume further, questioning why he seemed to lack the authority to curb the lavish spending of the executive, to which he responded that executives are always quick to remind him that he is not an executive mayor and therefore his power is limited.

Justice Cheda further inquired about the current relationship between the City Council executive and the councillors, which Mafume described as “not harmonious.”

Mafume was also grilled about the proliferation of service stations in residential areas, some of which Harare City Council’s Town Planning Director, Samuel Nyabeza, has pledged to demolish because they pose serious safety issues to residents.

He was further taken to task over the non-functional traffic lights in Harare, which have contributed significantly to traffic accidents, some of which have tragically claimed lives.