Suburban
WITH just two months before the year comes to an end, the City of Harare still does not have a working billing system despite promises the capital would have a functioning billing system by year end.
Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter
In July the municipality announced it had flighted a tender for a new billing system and residents were informed by year end the billing chaos currently dogging the city would be done away with but it appears the tender will drag on like most council tenders because officials try to manipulate the tendering, one way or the other, for their benefit.
Harare Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume has urged City of Harare officials to move with speed to ensure that the municipality has a functional or bridging ERP as they are currently operating without a billing system and revenue is being lost as a result.
He said the city’s devolution funds are at risk without an ERP.
“If you were following items, the Minister of Finance Mthuli Ncube did an interview saying there might be issues giving money to Harare because of the lack of an ERP,” Cllr Mafume told a special council meeting on Tuesday this week.
Cllr Mafume urged acting town clerk Engineer Norman Karidza to conclude the ERP issue so that the city can explore all the available options and make a decision.
“We cannot continue with the finance department not having an ERP.
“So we conclude and when we conclude, we take it to the next regulatory authority.
“If they refuse, then it’s ok.
“If they ok it, then we move forward.
“We cannot continue without a billing system.
“The residents are upset, everyone is upset, the system is not working, the finance director is not working,” Cllr Mafume said.
He said the city has justification to come up with a bridging ERP while awaiting the tender process given the reports coming from Parliament, Finance Minister Mthuli’s Ncube comments and the Auditor General’s report.
“A contract such as this with a report from Parliament, the comments of the Minister of Finance, with the Auditor General’s comments, you have enough justification to enter into negotiations and ask for a bridging ERP while we are waiting for the tender process.
“The fact that we are not billing and our finance department is not functional, you have got enough justification to put it on paper and agree that we have to have a bridging ERP,” he said.
Cllr Musarurwa Mutizwa (Ward 9 Greendale) said the ERP tender process was stopped by council with the human resources department raising procedural matters that still have to be concluded with the previous supplier of a billing system.
“The tender process was stopped by council including human resources. They said you can’t travel to inspect before concluding with BIQ,” he said.
Cllr Mafume said what happened was they had held many unauthorized trips.
He said it is a waste of resources to authorize for 18 people from council to travel to South Africa and China to observe their ERP systems when other companies such as Zinwa, Zesa, Zimra, City of Bulawayo and others use similar systems available locally.
“I am not going to authorise that. If any of you want to do that, we can divide the house and you vote and authorize them to travel to China to observe a system,” he said.
In September Harare’s billing chaos was back in the limelight to haunt the municipality as Parliament demanded an explanation over the vanishing of US$190 million from the local authority’s coffers following the cancellation of a contract with a South African company which provided the billing system.
Harare has failed to give an explanation over the disappearance of the US$190 million which could not be accounted for by the Auditor-General Mrs Mildred Chiri in her 2020 audit report.
Parliament’s Public Accounts sub-committee on local authorities has since ordered the City of Harare to submit financial statements of its companies, as the sub-committee continues its probe into what happened to the US$190 million.
Council lost track of the money after it cancelled a contract it had with a South African company, Quill Associates, that supplied it with an accounting software and Mrs Chiri was concerned that no one could tell her what the large sum had been spent on and feared prepayments for goods or services that were never delivered or overpayments may have been made.
Acting town clerk Engineer Phakamile Mabhena Moyo and council IT manager Mr Samson Madzokere appeared before the sub-committee chaired by Chegutu West Member of Parliament Cde Dexter Nduna where they were issued with the directive.
The council companies include Harare Quarry, Rufaro Marketing and EasyPark, among others.
Harare City had a contract with Quill Associates that ran from 2006 before it was terminated in 2018 over a US$40 000 dispute.
Since then, council has been keeping its records using software that is incompatible with the huge transactions it handles.
