Harare Council Executives Gobble US$500 000 As Residents Face Garbage Piles And Water Woes
Harare City Council executives receive large salaries and expensive holiday benefits, amounting to millions per year, reported ZBC News.
This comes at a time when the city is struggling to provide basic services to its residents, such as uncollected garbage, sewage problems, broken traffic lights, and unsafe drinking water.
During his testimony before the Commission of Inquiry, led by Retired Judge Justice Maphios Cheda on Tuesday, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume revealed that he was unaware of the large amounts being paid to the council executives. He said:
It is an anomaly. I have not been able to access the salary roll for the executives. The only time I saw it was when the acting human resources director came to my office and presented the document and he said that he had been instructed by the town clerk not to leave it with me.
I just managed a glimpse of the document and saw that the town clerk earned as much as US$27 000 per month, and the figure goes to around US$13 000 per month as the grade goes downwards. All in all it is costing us at least US$500 000 per month and that is unsustainable.
During the hearing, Commission lead Thabani Mpofu asked Mafume to confirm that the large salaries for Harare City Council executives did not include any extra benefits. Mafume agreed and added that when other perks are included, the total pay could exceed US$30,000.
Justice Cheda then asked why Mafume seemed unable to control the executives’ high spending. Mafume explained that the executives often reminded him that he was not an executive mayor, so his power was limited.
Justice Cheda also asked about the relationship between the City Council executives and the councillors, to which Mafume said it was “not harmonious.”
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