The City of Harare is once again in the spotlight after its accounting system went offline, forcing officials to process payments manually for the past three days, leading to long queues and frustration among residents.

The disruption is the latest in a series of controversies plaguing the city's administration, raising concerns over the council's handling of financial operations.

A source within the city council, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the chaos unfolding at municipal offices.

"The accounting system is down, so we are doing everything manually. There are huge queues here, and I suspect the bosses have not paid the temporary system owner," the source said.

The city has been operating without a reliable Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system since 2019, after a contractual dispute with its previous supplier, Quill Associates, led to the withdrawal of their software.

The lack of a permanent solution has left the council dependent on temporary systems that have now proven to be unreliable.

Residents have voiced frustration as they endure long wait times to make payments for services. The queues stretched outside council offices as staff scrambled to record transactions manually, adding to the city's already strained public services.

When reached for a comment, Council spokesperson Stanley Gama said he is not aware of the situation and will revert once he has the details.

The malfunctioning system is particularly concerning given past warnings from the Auditor-General.

In the 2020 report, the Auditor-General highlighted that the absence of a fully functional ERP system could have cost the city millions of dollars in unverified funds.

A sub-committee investigating the issue suggested the amount of missing money could have increased over the years due to the ongoing failure to implement a robust system.

While another source indicated that the temporary system had been switched back on after a dispute with the vendor, the uncertainty surrounding the council's financial management remains.

Governance and financial oversight have been under heavy scrutiny, with critics pointing to the need for better accountability and transparency within the City of Harare.