HARARE City Council is falling behind in operationalising the Enterprise Resource Planning (EPR) systems, in defiance of the government's recently launched blueprint, an official has said.

ERP is a software system used by councils to manage their operations and core business.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa last year introduced a service delivery blueprint titled 'A Call To Action - No Compromise On Service Delivery', which aims to modernise operations of local authorities.

The initiative includes improvement in various areas, notably the ERP.

Addressing the media on the update of the implementation of the blueprint last week, Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe said Harare was the only local authority that is lagging behind.

"The implications are that local authorities remain dysfunctional in the respective areas they failed with the deadline with one key being the ERP. If you do have ERP, you can not perform your duties in this world of technology using manual ways of doing business.

"We are responsible for the actions taken by the local authorities, positive actions and negative actions. We are responsible to ensure that we put up systems in place to whip those that are wayward," said Garwe.

The absence of the system has hampered operations in councils, particularly the City of Harare, resulting in financial losses.

"May I further explain that most of the Local Authorities, however, still need to fully utilise all the modules of the ERPS systems to improve efficiency.

"In terms of Master Plans, compliance is at 93 percent, whilst Valuation Rolls are at 63 percent and ERP at 96 percent.

"Therefore, in terms of the 'Call-to-Action' blueprint overall compliance by the Local Authorities, stands at 84 percent. The Ministry is happy with the progress that our Local Authorities have made in implementing the blueprint.

"The ministry is now interrogating matters concerning non-compliant Local Authorities, on a case-by-case basis," said Garwe.