Gweru Fails to Reconcile ZWG89 Million in Bank Balances, Auditor General Finds

The Auditor General has flagged serious financial management weaknesses at Gweru City Council after the local authority failed to perform bank reconciliations during the 2024 financial year resulting in significant unexplained variances in its financial records.

According to the Auditor General’s Report on the 2024 financial statements which was tabled in Parliament last week by the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Mthuli Ncube, the council did not carry out bank reconciliations for the year under review.

The report states that this resulted in an unreconciled variance of ZWG89 million between the council’s cashbook balance of ZWG93.5 million and an overdraft balance of ZWG4.5 million reflected on bank statements.

The Auditor General also identified another unexplained variance of ZWG167.69 million between the cash and bank trial balance of ZWG202.69 million and the general ledger balance of ZWG40 million.

“As a result, I could not satisfy myself on the completeness and accuracy of bank and cash balances disclosed in the financial statements,” the Auditor General said in the report.

The findings raise concerns over the effectiveness of Gweru City Council’s financial controls and accounting systems, as bank reconciliations are a key internal control mechanism used to ensure that accounting records agree with bank balances and that errors or irregularities are detected promptly.