KEY POINTS
- Harare city councilors face accusations of corruption, financial mismanagement, and incompetence.
- The city is struggling with deteriorating infrastructure and services despite large budgets allocated for improvements.
- Critics demand accountability and reforms to restore trust in local governance.
The Zimbabwean city councilors reveal that they are under pressure due to the developing cases of corruption, embezzlement of public funds and expenditure. The accusations have stirred concern about the ability of the local leadership, as the capital struggle with declining infrastructure base, unpredictable services and so on.
The people and other anti-corruption organizations are demanding that officials responsible for managing the city are more accountable to the public. Some of the facts that have emerged include embezzlement of huge funds, abusing of public productivity together with corruptions in the city.
Despite the large budget allocations on infrastructure required to improve service deliveries like garbage collection, water provision and roads repair the city of Harare is still lacking in infrastructure and service delivery quality enhancement.
Many streets in the city are in deplorable condition with potholes littering the entire city, there is acute water shortage, and the garbage is not collected as and when it should be.
Increasing dissatisfaction with council management
The people of Harare have grown to be dissatisfied with the leadership of the city by the councilors who they accuse of embezzling the public resources that they are supposed to serve.
A major concern is that the councilors do not address some fundamental issues for instance lack of affordable housing, poor drainage systems and a bad/ineffective public transport system in the city.
New Zimbabwe has highlighted that city councilors have been accused of living large while the situation in the cities get worst. Other accusations are based on new evidence of stealing of public money and the resultant controversy surrounding the proper use of such money for the benefit of the city.
Request for action and change
Opposition politicians and local civic groups have been particularly strident in their calls for the council to be made to answer.
They opine that the council has no effective leadership hence the increasing problems in Harare especially in as far as the development and maintenance of infrastructure is concerned.
Some critics have urged the government to conduct an audit of the city’s finances to reveal how much has been embezzled. They argue that for the people of Harare to regain their trust in their leaders, then the later has to be put under close scrutiny. Also, there are demands on increased efficiency and on how to prevent situations where the levied funds are misappropriated and ensure that the delivered services are only improved through such funds.
Some of the reforms have been suggested as follows; the adoption of a transparent tendering system for city projects and the enhancement of checks on councillors’ expenditure.
These reforms seek to restore the public confidence in the leadership of Harare residents as well as ensure that the city resources are spent to improve the welfare of the citizens.
Impact on Harare’s future
This state of affairs in Harare raise pertinent questions on the future of the city. Harare has a very important role in the economy of the country since it is the capital city of Zimbabwe and among countries in the international market.
However, the existing mismanagement threatens to impair the developmental potential in the country, as well as the well-being of millions of inhabitants.
People have hoped that with some general modifications as well as an improved accountability structure, the city of Harare can change its fortunes.
To regain its former glory the City will require more than accounting practices; what is required here is competent leadership with dedicated staff who will refrain from embezzling public funds.
It must be said that the emphasis should be made on the quality of the basic services provided for the residents, including garbage disposal, clean drinking water, and working roads.
Moving forward: a path to accountability
The problems that Harare city council is experiencing are typical of the problems affecting local governance in Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, the desire of the public to get the government’s explanation and the carrying out of reform measures could be the turning point.
The only silver lining that the council can show is that there are prospects for better services and proper management of public money.
It is only when corruption dismantled, when people start trusting city officials, only then Harare can start its healing process. If properly managed the city could regain its position as a working and viable urban entity with a better standard of living for all the inhabitants.
