By Anyway Yotamu
A Parliamentary probe into local authorities has revealed massive revenue leakages and rampant corruption involving council-owned properties and billboards with officials accused of siphoning off millions in public funds.
The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee chaired by Kuwadzana East lawmaker Chalton Hwende is currently conducting site visits across several municipalities as part of a nationwide audit review based on the Auditor General’s 2023 report titled “Value for Money for Local Authorities: Management of Revenue Generating Properties.”
The report scrutinises how local authorities handle revenue generated from properties under their jurisdiction, and the findings have been damning.
Following visits to Harare and Chinhoyi, Hwende said his committee had uncovered severe financial mismanagement.
“With Chinhoyi, the situation is bad. They are unable to, even unwilling to collect what is due to council. A number of people are occupying council-rented houses and are not paying—even though the rentals are as little as $20 for two-bedroom houses,” said Hwende.
He alleged that council officials were not only failing to enforce debt recovery but were also personally benefiting from shady lease agreements.
“We suspect that most of the council officials are the ones holding many of the leases. In one case, we found five or six tenants subletting a single commercial property before you even get to the original leaseholder. None of the money is reaching the council,” he said.
The committee also discovered that local authorities in both Harare and Chinhoyi are failing to collect revenue from billboard advertising, a lucrative income stream that appears to be slipping through the cracks—if not deliberately diverted.
“The issue of collusion between councillors and advertising agencies needs to be further investigated,” Hwende said adding that the committee would recommend a reinvestigation by the Auditor General.
In the coming days, the committee is expected to visit Karoi, Masvingo, Gweru and Bulawayo municipalities. After completing the visits, a consolidated report will be tabled before Parliament.
Hwende also raised concerns over the lack of innovative commercial strategies to boost local authority revenues warning that continued mismanagement could collapse basic service delivery.
