DESPITE a significant rise in the number of tuckshops in the capital's residential areas, Harare City Council managed to collect only US$100 in revenue over six months, raising suspicions of massive corruption within the municipality.
This came to light during the ongoing Commission of Inquiry, which is probing the operations of Harare City Council since 2017.
Harare City Council's acting revenue collection manager, Alfred Guni, appeared before the Commission, chaired by retired justice Maphios Cheda, where flaws in the City's revenue collection channels were exposed.
From April to September 2024, the City Council recorded only US$100 from tuckshops located in residential areas.
Guni acknowledged that the collected amount was very small compared with the number of shops operating in Harare.
"So the nature of tuckshops in the residential areas are collected by our markets officers who go around to collect so if we collect as little as US$100 that points to a failure by those who designated to collect the funds. It is a concerning level of performance given the number of tuckshops around the City," said.
This revelation lays bare the corruption that appears to be prevailing unabated within the Harare City Council, which is being prejudiced of revenue.
The City fathers are failing to rein in powerful individuals who are allegedly working in cahoots with municipal officials exploiting the porous revenue collection system at Town House to illegally pocket fees from licences.
Harare City is struggling to account for some of the funds that should be generated through licensing.
Guni told the Commission that the City Council is grappling with revenue leakages due to corrupt officials.
"It is a possibility. When I made reference in my affidavit that the City fails to collect owing to corruption and leakages. Definitely (there is corruption in license fee collection)," he said.
Guni also added that revenue from shop licenses is minimal in the City of Harare's overall revenue collection, even though much of the City has been transformed into an informal marketplace.
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"I would not confirm that the City Council owns tuckshops but it licenses privately owned tuckshops but what it owns are commercial buildings that are available for rental to the public.
"'The City made a resolution to collect tuckshop fees from those we see in our residential areas as long as they are compliant with the building inspectorate laws. That figure does not mean nothing came but it is a percentage of a huge figure. What it means is that we are getting very low income," said Guni.
