Minister Saviour Kasukuwere
Harare Bureau
A police and Anti-Corruption Commission joint operation team is set to swoop on unscrupulous councillors and officials accused of abusing council funds meant to improve service delivery in local authorities. This follows a directive from Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Cde Saviour Kasukuwere to probe and arrest those found on the wrong side of the law.
Some councillors have reportedly been questioned by police and the commission as the government moves in to bring sanity in councils and improve service delivery. Cde Kasukuwere yesterday confirmed the development saying he would not tolerate the abuse of ratepayers’ money by city fathers and officials.
“We’re dealing with the matter together with the Anti-Corruption Commission and police. I’ve instructed that where there’s corruption, deal with it,” he said without giving further detail. Sources at the ministry said Cde Kasukuwere was concerned with the number of corruption cases reported against officials and councillors and early this month he ordered an audit into Harare’s business entities and joint ventures, most of which have not been contributing to the city’s revenues.
Cde Kasukuwere recently suspended Gweru councillors and officials on allegations of allocating residential stands to themselves and management at sub-economic rates ahead of people on the councils’ waiting list, among other allegations.
Harare City Council officials were also accused of misappropriating part of the $144 million loan secured from China for the rehabilitation of water and sanitation projects. Harare Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni said Minister Kasukuwere wanted to ensure that there was no corruption or malpractice in the way council business was run.
“The Auditor General is looking into it. They’ve to go into their own processes of doing it,” he said. On why some partnerships entered by council were not bringing any money into the city’s coffers, Clr Manyenyeni said the profit expectation was high in all council ventures.
He said the problems with some of the businesses was that they had different gestation periods. “You’re unlikely to have profitability on day one. Some of them have gestation periods of five years. So dividend expectations for such long-term projects is misplaced. “I don’t think all our partners have been the best.
“Some of the partners have come on to these joint ventures with ideas, technical expertise to actually roll out some of these projects, which require money which some of our partners do not have,” he said. He said some of the partners had given the impression that they would source money or that they had the money.
He said council had read the “riot act” to some of its partners last week. “The message was these things must perform. That’s why we’re doing it. “These things are not hobbies as far as council is concerned. These things are businesses.” Businesses under the spotlight include the city’s farms, City Parking, nursery, real estate (Rufaro Marketing Property Asset), hospitality and parks. Among the city’s business ventures only City Parking has been declaring reasonable dividends to council.