Harare City Council (HCC) officials are allegedly withholding ZWL$2.6 billion disbursed in 2023 by the Zimbabwe National Road Authority (ZINARA) for road maintenance.
According to NewsDay, HCC’s delayed utilisation of ZINARA funds came to light when Furbank Trading, a local company contracted to supply traffic lights, requested a contract variation due to non-payment for goods supplied on January 12. The letter reads in part:
We were awarded the above-quoted purchase order number, the value was ZWL$1 346 926 000 … from January 12 to date we have sought two justifiable variations necessitated by the loss of value of the local currency, the latest variation was totally avoidable as we supplied the traffic signal heads, but you have not processed payment.
NewsDay reported sources as saying the chief roads engineer, Gerald Mutume, a permanent South African resident of sleeping on the job. Said a source:
He has been taking his time to sign papers and while he does that money dispatched by ZINARA loses value because of inflationary pressures.
He did the same last year, withholding money meant to buy aggregates and only gave a go-ahead after the value had been eroded and we bought half of what we should have bought had he acted swiftly.
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume said he had been briefed on the matter when contacted for comment. Said Mafume:
We received a couple of billions from ZINARA and because it’s in local currency the expectation is that our officials act quickly by making payment.
I have asked the treasury and they tell me that they can’t pay our suppliers until they get the green light from the user who is the roads engineer and director of works.
However, Mutume passed the buck to Mafume saying, “How do I get involved in the processing of payments? Go and ask the treasurer and the mayor, they are the ones who are involved at that level, not me.”
ZINARA chief executive, Nkosi Ncube said they have always had problems with local authorities over the utilisation of disbursed funds. Ncube said:
We did disburse a substantial amount of money to Harare City Council last year and we encourage councils to use the money they are given wisely and responsibly.
We can’t dispatch money so that it sits in the accounts of local authorities.
The Zimbabwean Dollar (ZWL) has been in free fall since its re-introduction in 2019. Initially, Zimbabweans used a mix of foreign currencies, including the US dollar, euro, and South African rand.
However, on June 24, 2019, the Zimbabwean government banned the use of foreign currencies in local transactions, leading to increased reliance on the re-introduced ZWL, initially known as the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) dollar.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic IN 2020, the Government of Zimbabwe implemented a policy allowing the use of foreign currency for transactions. This decision aimed to mitigate economic challenges during the crisis.
Since then, the usage of the United States dollar has increased significantly. Currently, over 80 per cent of local transactions are conducted in USD.
Those who receive Zimbabwe dollars are eager to dispose of them promptly to avoid losing value.
More: Pindula News