Zimbabwe: Harare's Finances in Shambles, Property Disappears, Says Mayor Mafume

23 January 2025

Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has admitted to serious financial mismanagement at the local authority and revealed that some council properties have mysteriously disappeared.

Mayor Mafume dropped the bombshell when he appeared before the Justice Cheda-led Commission of Inquiry this morning.

He revealed that the council's management conspired to get rid of an effective Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

"The problem is that management conspired to get rid of an effective ERP system, so we don't know what is happening," he said.

"We need an effective ERP system to manage our properties, but there was a deliberate move not to incorporate properties into the system."

He said he has raised concern over this issue on several occasions, although his concerns fell on deaf ears.

When asked why council subsidiaries are not under the city, Mayor Mafume said there wouldn't be much gain in transferring them back into an equally chaotic system.

"You cannot transfer assets or resources to a chaotic system. What is needed is an effective ERP system to detect any irregularities."

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