Scores turned away from Harare revenue offices after council ran out of receipts, says mayor

By Caleb Chikwawawa

Cash-strapped Harare City Council turned away scores of responsible rate payers who had turned up at its various district revenue offices after authorities at Town House had failed to secure paper to print receipts to confirm payment.

This came out on Tuesday when mayor Jacob Mafume appeared before the retired judge Justice Maphios Cheda led Commission of Inquiry into alleged malpractices within the local authority since 2017.

The inquiry is focusing on the Harare City Council’s operations including financial management, property management, procurement laws and council meetings.

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Mafume was asked by one of the commissioners about a letter dated 29 January 2025 announcing a meeting on the absence of printing equipment, accessories and stationery across council departments.

The mayor was quizzed if it was necessary to summon all council chairpersons to a meeting that was convened over procurement instead of letting the relevant department deal with the issue.

“It’s a critical shortage,” responded the city father during an inquiry that is being held at Makumbe Building in Harare.

“We were getting reports that people were not paying because the city council had run out of receipts. We had run out of bond paper. People were going to Remembrance (House), to our district offices and failing to pay and the chamber secretary generated that office because residents were queuing up.

“This is the end of the month; this is where we get most of our payments.

“This is a procurement issue but not a procurement meeting. This is the end of the month, this is where we get our procurement revenue, people were showing up at Remembrance and they were being told that there was no bond paper, toner to print receipts for the money that they were paying.

“I can’t imagine anything more urgent in my life as a mayor or councillor, the fact that people are being turned away from district offices to avoid paying because there is a critical shortage of toner, bond paper and so forth.

Mafume did not state the period this happened and neither did he say how long this took.

The Harare City Council faces a perennial shortage of revenue to deliver smooth service to residents.

The country’s biggest local authority is also saddled with a monthly salary bill of US$2 million to deal with.

At least 55 percent of council revenue is chewed by wages.

However, the city fathers have often come under fire for organising workshops outside Harare where they often pay themselves hefty allowances at the expense of the troubled local authority.