HARARE City Council Mayor Jacob Mafume has launched a scathing criticism against Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz) officials, whom he accused of obstructing efforts to procure an affordable and efficient billing system crucial for the city's administration.

Mafume revealed that the billing system being pushed by some Praz and City of Harare officials would cost ratepayers a staggering US$52 million.

In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, he argued that for a city the size of Harare, an effective billing system should cost between US$1 million and US$3 million.

Zimbabwe’s capital has been operating without a proper billing system since 2019, when it discontinued using the BIQ technology following a pricing dispute with the South African supplier.

After the termination of that contract, city officials proposed adopting an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with a price tag of US$52 million, a move that Mafume says was rejected by councillors.

The US$52 million tender deal also had the support of "some elements in Praz", who seem to be working with city officials, Mafume alleged.

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Councillors instead recommended the reinstatement of Harare’s previous ERP, after which a tender process was initiated.

However, tensions have arisen over the tender, with Mafume questioning why city council and Praz officials were pushing for an exorbitantly priced ERP system. He did not name the Praz officials pushing for the deal.

Concerns were heightened when one bidder scored 89% in the tender evaluation —well above the 75% minimum required — but Praz allegedly rejected the bidder for failing to meet certain mandatory criteria.

The auditor-general had recommended reinstating a system similar to Harare’s previous billing solution. In March, Mafume accused Praz of obstructing the restoration of the city’s ERP.

A full council meeting had agreed to engage Praz to understand the delays in procurement. When contacted by the Zimbabwe Independent this week, Praz declined to comment on the matter. Mafume did not hold back in his criticism of the agency.

“When I came in, we had no functional ERP,” he told the Independent.

 “If you don't have an ERP as an organisation, you are dead. We have been trying to restore our ERP, but we have been blocked by some Praz officials, who wanted us to implement an ERP for US$52 million.

“They are refusing to consent to any effort to reinstate the ERP we had, which is currently being used by Zinwa (Zimbabwe National Water Authority) and the City of Bulawayo.”

Mafume was reinstated as mayor during a frenzy of recalls of Citizens Coalition for Change MPs and councillors last year.

Praz has often been accused of corruption due to the strategic nature of its operations, although no allegations against the current executive have been proven.

About three years ago, four ministries raised concerns against Praz’s leadership, but during a high-level meeting, the ministers failed to substantiate their claims,  leading authorities to dismiss the matter.

“Our ICT compliance is worse than a small university,” Mafume said.

“Once you log in the number of a student, you get their history, their payment history, and their academic history.

“But we, for us as a city council, to know your bill, it is like a bone-throwing exercise, which ought not to happen.”

The dysfunctional billing system has left many ratepayers stranded, with Harare City Council resorting to manual receipts during system downtimes.

These receipts do not update all the payments made by residents, and ratepayers have been unable to obtain account information through the system.

During billing blackouts, the council cannot access account holder data, including payments and amounts owed by ratepayers. Consequently, recently printed bills, particularly for consistent payers, do not reflect any payments made.

Residents are now being charged based on estimates, leading to complaints about inaccurate figures.

Mafume said the council has been working to address these systemic issues to lay a solid foundation for the city's recovery and improved service delivery. However, all tenders above US$300 000 must go through Praz.

Mafume also noted that although the council has 800 000 homes capable of paying rent, only a small percentage do so.

“It is a very small percentage. A lot of the people live in Harare for free. We only have 320 000 households that are paying rent,” he said.

“We have a potential of 800 000 households that are there in terms of the census that was done.”

Mafume also said the city council is owed more than US$100 million from ratepayers, including the government and state departments and agencies.