By Staff Reporter
The Harare City Council has been hit by a massive financial scandal after failing to account for a staggering ZiG691.29 billion in salary payments across two fiscal years, plunging the local authority into severe reputational and legal jeopardy.
According to a damning audit report tabled in Parliament by Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube, Auditor-General Vimbai Chikwenhere flagged the council for rampant financial mismanagement and a systemic failure to produce basic accounting records.
The Auditor-General revealed that the municipality could not provide supporting payroll records for ZiG53.48 billion disbursed in wages in 2022. The crisis escalated exponentially the following year, with council officials failing to produce documentation for ZiG637.81 billion paid out in 2023.
In her report, Chikwenhere stated that the council recognised employment costs which were not supported by underlying payroll records, adding that she was unable to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence to confirm the accuracy and completeness of employee costs and obligations recognised in the financial statements. She confirmed that similar compliance failures stonewalled her team when attempting to audit the 2023 financial records.
The total breakdown in internal accounting controls led the Auditor-General to slap the Harare City Council with an Adverse Opinion for both 2022 and 2023. An adverse opinion represents the most severe sanction an auditor can issue, signifying that the financial statements are materially misstated, unreliable, and fail to reflect the true financial health of the municipality. Chikwenhere stressed that the council’s failure to maintain proper books of account directly violates the Urban Councils Act.
Confronted with the 2023 findings, Harare City Council management admitted to the irregularities, pointing fingers at outdated system integration capabilities, reliance on manual payroll reconciliations, and complexities in calculating long-term employee obligations.
However, the report paints a picture of systemic impunity within the city administration. The Auditor-General revealed that council officials ignored 23 out of 25 corrective recommendations issued in her previous report. Unaddressed violations include the failure to revalue municipal assets, a complete lack of supporting documentation for revenues and payables, and a total failure to account for foreign exchange gains and losses.
