IN a candid admission, a senior Harare City Council employee has claimed that numerous arrests and changes at Town House have made it challenging to produce audit statements.
Appearing before the Chalton Hwende-led Public Accounts Committee to give oral evidence on the audited financial statements in the 2021 and 2022 Auditor-General Mildred Chiri’s reports, town clerk Hosiah Chisango said between 2019 and 2023, the city experienced significant upheavals, with various changes in key positions, including the finance director and town clerk.
He said during this period, there were acting officials in various roles, which complicated efforts to stitch together accurate information and pinpoint responsibility.
Chisango assured the committee that council is in the process of gathering the necessary information and move forward.
“We had a lot of acting people in positions, a lot of arrests and reinstatements, and those things. Our information is difficult to pinpoint and say, ‘this is what this one did’,” he said.
“We are still trying to gather issues so that we can put things together and move on.”
The Auditor-General report for the financial year ended December 2022 revealed that the city’s accounts were in shambles, adding that there was grand theft and the city was faced with a severe crisis due to poor service delivery.
In her 2020 audit report, Chiri also raised concern over council’s accounting systems.
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