THE unfolding episodes of mismanagement crippling Harare City Council (HCC) explain why the local authority is incapable of offering decent services to its citizens.
For five months, the capital's four million residents have been petrified by revelations unearthed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa's commission of inquiry into the council's affairs, where shocking misgovernance has been exposed.
Witnesses testifying before the Justice Maphios Cheda-led commission have exposed how city officials have been embezzling millions of United States dollars from the local authority, which is struggling to provide safe drinking water to residents, who now live side by side with garbage.
The same corrupt officials have plundered Rufaro Marketing, once the capital's cash cow, with an asset portfolio of 86 beer outlets across the country.
Rufaro Marketing's failure to disclose lease agreements of tenants occupying council assets led to the suspension of its executive, Daniel Mutiwadirwa, last year.
Furthermore, the commission discovered that City Parking, a company that is responsible for Harare’s parking bays, operated for nearly a decade without a formal agreement.
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This is just the tip of the iceberg, as Harare faces structural challenges fuelled by top officials vying for power and financial gain.
Recently, HCC Town Clerk Hosiah Chisango, out on bail over a queried tender worth US$9,2 million, defied a suspension order by Mayor Jacob Mafume and attended a full council meeting.
In another shocking development, Acting Town Clerk Phakamile Mabhena Moyo's letter to Nanotechnology, threatening to cancel its US$5,4 million water treatment project, was disputed by the company's lawyers, who claimed the cited terms were non-existent.
Moyo later retracted his demands, saying the letter had been sent to the wrong recipient. How so? This bungling has delayed a project aimed at providing clean water to residents. A research conducted in 2018 revealed that Harare's water contains deadly toxins.
Mnangagwa's commission of inquiry must restore sanity to the capital.
The commission's findings and recommendations must be implemented swiftly to address the systemic corruption and mismanagement plaguing Harare.
This requires strong leadership, accountability, and transparency. The government should ensure that those responsible for the rot are brought to justice and that measures are put in place to prevent future abuses.
Furthermore, the commission should recommend structural reforms to prevent the concentration of power among a few and ensure that decision-making processes are transparent and inclusive.
The people of Harare deserve better than a council mired in corruption and inefficiency.
It is crucial that the President takes decisive action against those implicated in the scandal, regardless of their political connections.
Anything less would undermine the credibility of his administration's anti-corruption drive. The future of Harare and its residents depends how he will act.