Harare’s accounting system criticised

By Harriet Chikandiwa | Mar. 2, 2023 | 2 Min read

Pac also recommended that going forward, council should exercise its powers to audit and access financial statements of all its subsidiaries.

THE Public Accounts Committee (Pac) has expressed concern over lack of a functional Enterprise Resource Planning system at the Harare City Council (HCC), a situation it says could result in resource leakages.

Pac now wants the HCC procurement committee to be investigated by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) over its acquisition of an expensive SAGE accounting system at a cost of US$300 000, leaving a BIQ system which costs US$75 000 and claims is more effective.

In a report on the analysis of the 2021 Auditor General’s report on local authorities, which was presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday, acting Pac chairperson Muchineripi Chinyanganya said it was worrying that a big local authority like HCC was running without a functional Enterprise Resource Planning system.

“In this respect, the committee urgently expects city officials to hastily re-engage Quill Associates for BIQ systems to recover funds unaccounted for, and to restore sanity, transparency and efficiency to avoid continued financial haemorrhage in the city’s operations."

He said improper accounting systems at council were causing financial loses.

“All of Harare City’s problems were centred on the absence of a sound Enterprise Resource Planning system. In the absence of a proper accounting system, these irregularities will still continue. At the moment, the prejudice of the amounts involved or the amounts lost could not be quantified. A proper investigative audit would help to numerate the amount lost,” the Pac report read.

"The amount Harare City could have been prejudiced is only a tip of the iceberg, and because of the absence of Enterprise Resource Planning, the amount lost is more than what meets the eye. Council acted suspiciously by engaging incapacitated and expensive SAGE accounting systems for US$300 000. Zacc should probe the HCC tender committee on why they were getting expenses of their international meetings paid by bidders against section 84 (2) of the Procurement Act.

"HCC is currently incapacitated to effectively receipt and bill residents. HCC did not take the matter of abruptly being switched off by Quill Associates to court because they had no case as they were at fault. The tender process is hugely compromised when bidders were asked to pay for air tickets and hotel accommodation by HCC."