HARARE City Council employees have raised concern over the high number of aides assigned to top council officials at a time when the municipality is struggling to pay workers and provide services to residents.
According to council workers, the ballooning number of aides to top executives was bleeding the city.
The sources claimed that this is the reason why the council is losing millions in workshops through allowances and accommodation for the bloated workforce.
A Commission of Inquiry into Harare City Council affairs heard that the local authority reportedly splurged millions of dollars on workshops and seminars this year.
Last week, council officials were in Bulawayo attending the Sanganai/Hlanganani tourism expo with their aides.
Mayor Jacob Mafume yesterday refuted allegations that council management had several aides.
“The mayor’s office is covered under the chamber's secretary’s office,” Mafume said.
“The chamber's secretary has many workers. It’s a whole department.
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“So, the chamber secretary seconded people to various duties and tasks.”
He denied charges that his office was also had many aides.
“I don’t employ people. Lovemore Chinoputsa is an executive assistant to me,” he said.
“He assists me with tracking my results framework, which I report on every quarter.
“I have only one driver- my driver.
“Francis Chadaya is just a general driver. He was a mayor's driver under (Ian) Makone’s administration.”
A commission of inquiry chaired by retired judge Justice Maphios Cheda has exposed gross mismanagement and corruption in the council and its subsidiaries.
It emerged during hearings that the council was being looted from various ends, with senior officials allegedly enriching themselves at the expense of service delivery.
Evidence presented to the commission indicates that city assets were being systematically stripped and sold off under unclear circumstances.
Eight Harare councilors are currently standing trial after being accused of corruptly allocating 24 industrial stands to themselves.
The council is accused of entering into questionable partnerships with private companies, often without following proper procurement procedures.
