Harare Tops Corruption List as Govt Hints at More City Probes
By Loyd Matare
Harare City Council has been named the worst-performing local authority, with Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe saying it is now up to the President to decide whether more commissions will be set up to investigate other struggling councils.
Speaking to journalists at State House yesterday after submitting a long-awaited report to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Garwe said the findings of the commission into Harare’s affairs confirmed widespread maladministration, corruption, and service delivery collapse.
“Harare City Council is number one and Bulawayo City Council is number two going forward,” Garwe said.
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The commission, chaired by retired High Court judge Justice Maphios Cheda, was appointed in May 2024 to investigate governance issues in Harare following growing outcry from residents and ratepayers.
“…on the 12th of May, 2024, His Excellency put in place a commission of enquiry to investigate and report back and make recommendations to the President on the way the city of Harare… is being managed.
“…The level of maladministration that has been reported by the ratepayers, the decay in service delivery and many other ills, including externalisation of resources,” said Garwe.
Although the full report remains under presidential review and has not yet been made public, Garwe indicated it lays bare serious failings at Town House.
“We have submitted the report to His Excellency… the details cannot be disclosed today because the President has to go through it and then give us the way forward.”
Justice Cheda said the commission’s work was driven by residents’ frustration with local government failure.
“It was in response to the complaints and cries by the residents and the ratepayers,” he said.
With Bulawayo also now on the radar, concerns over governance in urban local authorities have been mounting for years, with residents in major cities frequently decrying poor service delivery, alleged corruption, and the failure of councils to account for ratepayers’ funds.
