Harare city council squandered US$11 million in 7 months on workshops, says Chisango
Jailed town clerk says he was arm-twisted by greedy city fathers to organise workshops every week
By Staff Reporter
Jailed Harare town clerk Hosiah Chisango has made startling claims he was arm-twisted by greedy councillors to release a staggering US$11 million between January and July this year to finance workshops and seminars for city fathers.
Chisango was withdrawn from jail on Tuesday under police escort to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into council’s affairs.
The city boss is detained over alleged tender fraud involving a US$9,2 million Harare streetlights deal.
The cash-strapped Harare City Council is in the hands of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
Chisango said he was pressured by councillors to organise workshops almost weekly.
Some ran concurrently, he further revealed.
Councillors are paid handsome allowances for attending the workshops.
“I think even some of my directors would confirm that there were serious concerns raised and there were other issues where we would have to prioritise and say that we needed to pay other expenses before proceeding with workshops,” Chisango said.
“However, there was always pressure to prioritise issues related to workshops and seminars.”
Chisango said he would give in to pressure by the city fathers for fear of dismissal.
However, leading the evidence from witnesses before the commission, Thabani Mpofu pressed Chisango on why he was compelled to carry out illegal actions for fear of losing his job instead of staying true to ethics.
“We have received documents indicating that for the first seven months, your councillors used an amount of US$11 million on workshops and seminars.
“The document we have here depicts a situation where there was a workshop on a weekly basis without exception for the month of January to the month of July and sometimes there were two workshops running concurrently at the expense of taxpayers’ money,” Mpofu said.
Chisango recommended that to stop the plunder of council resources by councillors, council operations be regulated from outside.
He said councillors have also been meddling with tender process, something that is outside their mandate.
The Harare city council is under fire for failing to deliver on provision of clean water, garbage collection and road maintenance, among other responsibilities.
