HARARE may face a water crisis due to a shortage of treatment chemicals caused by outstanding payments to suppliers.
Sources said a financial arrangement in place intended to resolve a substantial debt owed by Harare City Council to Chemplex Corporation hangs in the balance due to haggling in council.
“Under the agreed plan, the city council was supposed to make daily payments of US$50 000 to Chemplex Corporation to gradually pay off a US$3 million debt owed to Zimphos,” the source said.
The restructuring of the debt and the new payment plan was designed to alleviate the financial burden on the city, insiders told NewsDay Weekender.
However, sources alleged that council management has been reluctant to operationalise the payment plan.
Chemplex Corporation is a key supplier of water treatment chemicals for the city.
“This could lead to a health scare in Harare, coinciding with the upcoming Southern African Development Community Industrialisation Week and the Heads of State and Government meeting next month,” the source added.
The source said the motive behind these actions could be politically charged.
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“There is a belief that some council managers view Chemplex Corporation as affiliated with Zanu PF and by targeting the company, they could be pursuing a broader political agenda,” they noted.
Allegations have also surfaced that management is advocating the procurement of water treatment chemicals from alternative private entities.
Efforts to get comment from HCC finance director Godfrey Kusangaya were unsuccessful as he was not responding to calls since Thursday.
HCC spokesperson Stanley Gama also did not answer questions sent to him before lunch yesterday via WhatsApp.
Mayor Jacob Mafume did not pick calls on his mobile phone.
Harare has been experiencing a series of dry taps for years, owing to financial, operational and management crises at the local authority.
The council has been put under the spotlight after President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently appointed a commission of inquiry chaired by retired judge Justice Maphios Cheda to probe operations, mainly in its accounting systems and adherence to financial management since 2017.
