By Loyd Matare
Residents associations have come out guns blazing, slamming the City of Harare over rampant corruption, the deliberate sabotage of financial systems, and a leadership vacuum that has plunged the local authority into chaos.
They are now demanding a complete overhaul of the city’s leadership and financial infrastructure, amid what they describe as Harare’s worst governance crisis in decades—one marked by systemic looting, blocked accountability mechanisms, and a council many believe is either captured or complicit.
In an interview with AfroGazette News, Harare Residents Trust (HRT) director Precious Shumba accused council officials of intentionally dismantling oversight systems to enable looting.
“The City of Harare does not have leadership. The absence of a billing system is deliberate. A transparent, accountable billing system would deprive cartel agents within council of the revenues they loot daily,” he said.
This comes as City councillors raised new concerns over the opaque handling of revenue generated from municipal billboards, demanding full disclosure from management on the actual figures.
The issue surfaced during a full council meeting at Town House on Tuesday, where Ward 16 councillor Denford Ngadziore pressed officials for transparency on billboard income across the city.
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“Where is the money from billboards going?” Ngadziore asked during the meeting at Town House. “We need the figures, and we need them now.”
In response, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume voiced doubt that the truth would come from the very people accused of concealing the funds.
“Let me explain. The same people who have withheld this money and failed to implement a proper monitoring system for the past 15 years are the ones you’re expecting answers from.
“Advertising is a major revenue stream. We need affordable, efficient systems to know how many billboards exist, what they’re paying, and to make sure that money reaches us,” Mafume said.
He revealed that efforts to implement a digital tracking system have repeatedly stalled.
“I’ve pushed for these systems over and over again, but progress keeps being blocked,” he told councillors.
“We can’t rely on the same insiders who’ve created this blackout. We need external solutions to protect public funds.”
Shumba accused a powerful network of councillors and senior officials of manipulating every layer of council operations from procurement and billing chaos to the recruitment of staff and awarding of contracts.
“The money from billboards? That’s going into pockets of the corrupt,” he said.
“The whole system is haphazard and corrupted.”
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) director Reuben Akili added that the situation has reached a historic low.
“We have always said it, our council is at its weakest point since independence,” he told AfroGazette.
“Councillors can’t hold technocrats to account. They’re intimidated, afraid to make decisions, afraid of being recalled.”
He blamed both internal cowardice and external interference for the dysfunction.
“Most decisions are made at the centre. Council just follows orders. Oversight committees are broken, councillors within them are compromised. We need a full reset that includes constitutional alignment to devolve power properly.”
All this comes as Mayor Mafume revealed earlier this year at the Commission of Inquiry that senior council officials have deliberately obstructed the implementation of a digital Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system—a vital tool designed to curb revenue leakages and strengthen accountability.
“I have tried everything to get an ERP system installed,” Mafume told the commission.
“But I end up being accused of interference. The very people sabotaging this are in charge of procurement and finances. This is a deliberate act.”
According to evidence presented to the commission, the absence of an ERP system has cost the city over US$10 million per year, with the Auditor General reporting more than US$200 million unaccounted for over the years.
Mafume hinted that actual losses could be higher, citing duplicate payments, undocumented waivers, and missing ratepayer data.
“The system is broken by design,” he said. “Without ERP, more than 100,000 households are not even in our records and that translates into massive revenue losses.”
The council has also failed to audit its books for over five years, further deepening concerns about financial mismanagement and institutional collapse.
As public frustration grows, residents are demanding more than just explanations — they want heads to roll, systems rebuilt, and every cent accounted for.
The billboard mystery, it turns out, is just a symptom of a much larger crisis — one involving captured institutions, broken oversight, and a local government unable to govern.
