Harare fails to collect half of its bills

Harare fails to collect half of its bills

Pretty Manyewe

The opposition led City of Harare continues to perform below par, as they are failing to collect at least half of the bills they issue.

In their recently released 2023 Budget, they reported a revenue collection efficiency of 45 percent.

The city which aims to be World Class by 2025 is mulling cutting costs to continue being operational in the face of low cash inflows.

According to Finance and Development Committee Chairperson, Councillor Costa Mande, part of this poor showing is caused by dated by-laws.

“The City of Harare needs to review and update by-laws and enforce to regulate activities and get the legal basis to collect revenue and fund service delivery. To this end, departments are currently reviewing their mandates to identify by-laws for reviewing and crafting new ones. This will ease the pressure on our mainstream tariffs that may burden our ratepayers,” said Mande.

Mande said the low revenue does not match with the city`s ever increasing priorities which include aged infrastructure and a growing population.

“Secondly, the delays in resolving Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) issues has led to the continued failure of the City to have timeous audited financial statements, effective revenue collection and plugging of revenue leakages, further destroying residents’ confidence in the city and calls for expeditious procurement and operationalisation of an efficient ERP system. We have resolved to have a bridging ERP within the next fourteen days,” he said.

The city has been dogged by adverse audit opinions over the past few years and they are seeking to turn a new leaf.

“There is need to expedite crafting of by- laws in potential revenue generating areas. Furthermore, the review of outdated by- laws is very urgent. There is also lethargy in the enforcement of laws governing operations of the city and this indiscipline has resulted in illegal settlements, buildings and increased revenue leakage. Efforts must made to restore order through rigorous enforcement,” said Mande.