By Correspondent
Residents have come out against the growing idea to make Jacob Mafume Executive Mayor as a way to control Council management, which has been accused of fleecing the local authority.
Instead, they say the problem is a weak accountability system within Council.
“The “secret payroll” scandal at Town House is real.
“Senior officials allegedly earning up to US$27,000 a month plus vehicle loans, while frontline workers go without.
“But the fix is not to hand the Mayor more power and a bigger salary.
“It is not about the powers of the mayor but a weak accountability system”, says the Harare Residents Trust (HRT).
HRT says the repeated occurrence of such scandals justifies the calls for a stronger accounting system.
“This payroll problem repeated under Advocate Muchadeyi Masunda, Bernard Manyenyeni, Herbert Gomba, and now Jacob Mafume.
“Four different mayors, same scandal.
“That tells you the problem is weak audits and zero accountability, not a “weak mayor.”
Salary Scandal
During his testimony before the Commission of Inquiry, led by Retired Judge Justice Maphios Cheda, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume revealed that the council’s executive is collectively pocketing half a million US dollars in salaries each month.
The Town Clerk, he stated, is earning a staggering US$27,000.
“I asked the Human Resources director for a report on salaries,” Mafume testified.
“He refused to give it to me, saying it was an instruction from the Town Clerk.
“He then showed me the document in confidence, and from what I saw, the highest-paid executive is receiving US$27,000.”
Mafume added that the lowest-paid member of the executive is taking home a handsome US$15,000.
Commission lead evidence Thabani Mpofu asked Mafume to confirm that these hefty salaries did not include any additional benefits, to which Mafume replied in the affirmative, adding that with other perks factored in, the total remuneration would likely tip the scales at over US$30,000.
The revelations shocked many considering the poor service delivery in the capital.
Corrective Measures
In a bid to deal with the rot, HRT says some measures should be quickly implemented.
They include Council getting a proper Enterprise Resource System that enhances transparency and accountability and publishing findings from the Commission of Inquiry.
HRT says those implicated in the shocking salary scandal should also be held to account.
“Harare’s problem is not about what the mayor has, because successful mayors like Masunda and Manyenyeni delivered, without too much power and responsibilities in the hands of the Mayor.
“It needs the current law enforced”, it added.
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