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Patrick Chitumba and Lovemore Zigara Midlands Reporters
THE suspended Gweru City councillors allegedly looted thousands of dollars meant for service delivery and unproceduraly approved hefty allowances, especially for senior staff at the non-performing local authority, an official said.

The chairperson of the caretaker commission running the affairs of Gweru City Council, Tsungai Mhangami, said the audit done by the Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Ministry on council finances had unearthed a number of scams through which the local authority lost huge sums of money.

“They were giving themselves allowances which are astronomic with some getting as high as $1,000 water allowance. Some were getting $250 transport allowance approved by the councillors and management. Where in the country does one use for water for $1,000 a month unless it’s for commercial use. To make matters worse, they were collecting cash and were not paying for the water and they owe council huge amounts in unpaid water bills and rates,” he said.

He said some were getting $2,500 as housing allowance — a figure he said represented maximum distortion on the part of councillors.

Mhangami said they even went as far as approving a 35 percent budget increase knowing that they wanted to increase salaries by 35 percent.

He said the council wage bill stood at $1,6 million a month against monthly revenue of $1,2 million.

“So every month, council was in $400,000 deficit. They didn’t have any money for service delivery, refuse collection and water chemicals. In a way this council is not bankrupt, it’s closed because of serious mismanagement of funds,” said Mhangami.

“Pensioners are not even getting their dues as council is broke and has been operating on overdrafts to move the city.”

He said council also flouted planning regulations — a development he said saw thousands of houses being constructed in open spaces not designated for the purpose. While stands were sold, the commission chair said there were no records at hand to confirm that council benefited through their sale.

Although he could not give the exact number of houses and business buildings which were allegedly developed illegally, Mhangami said they were not paying anything to council. “These houses are not on the national grid. Where they are constructed is noted as open space by the physical planners in Harare. Worse, the owners of the houses won’t get title deeds for the illegal structures,” he said.

Mhangami said the revenue collection system was dead, adding that thousands of dollars were not finding their way into council coffers.

Before the coming in of the commission, a workers’ committee that was known as Boko Haram was collecting revenue amid indications that thousands of dollars were looted.

“We’ve discovered that stands in the Kopje area were going for as little as $3 per square metre which is far below the market price of $30, especially for a prime area which is actually the city’s most affluent suburb. Stands should be a source of revenue for the council and it boggles the mind how a cash strapped council arrives at a decision to sell stands at such a give away price,” he said.

Last year council put on sale Mkoba 21 high density stands measuring 300 square metres for $4,950 which translates to $16,50 per square metre.

“We have therefore put on hold the sale of Kopje stands until we enlist the services of a professional valuer who will determine the actual value of the stands,” said Mhangami.

The commission has also reversed the running of club houses and community centres by councillors who were allegedly pocketing proceeds from the use of the facilities.

Mhangami said the facilities will now be run by the Department of Housing and Community Services. “We have also banned councillors from going for in-house training programmes outside Gweru thereby draining the limited revenues through per diems,” he said.

The commission running the affairs of Gweru was appointed after the suspension of Gweru mayor, Hamutendi Kombayi, together with his deputy, Artwell Manyorauta and 14 other councillors in the MDC-T dominated council by Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister, Cde Saviour Kasukuwere.

Last week the High Court ordered their reinstatement after Justice Nokuthula Moyo said the suspension was unconstitutional.

Kasukuwere has said he will contest the ruling.