By Correspondent
HARARE- City of Harare Mayor, Councillor Jacob Mafume, has complained that residents are now the local authority’s biggest debtors, owing the municipality about ZiG8 billion, amid pressure from the central government for the city to achieve minimum service delivery standards.
Speaking to journalists at Town House on Wednesday, Mafume said the blitz on commercial properties implemented in 2025 produced results.
Now council is shifting attention to residents who account for about 80 percent of the city’s outstanding debt.
Residents Biggest Council Debtors
“The residents are remaining now as the biggest debtor they are owing us about ZiG8 billion.
“We were thinking of how to approach this situation, we did not want to come up with the heavy-handed approach that we used on business.
“We wanted to see if we could persuade residents through some mechanisms.
“The mechanisms that we have come up with, which will ultimately be approved by our council and of course government, was to say those that will pay their bills within the period effective 19th January to 15 February, council will offer discounts of up to 20 percent to those ratepayers during the period 19 January to 15 February on what you owe,” said Mafume.
Incentives For Complying
He added that residents who pay their debts in foreign currency will enjoy additional benefits.
This includes those in the diaspora.
Meanwhile, customers who are already fully paid up or have consistently honored their bills will receive loyalty points and account credits.
The mayor said the initiative is designed to avoid the use of heavy-handed debt collection methods in the current economic environment.
“We did not want to come up with the heavy-handed approach that we used on business.
“We want to persuade residents through some mechanisms.
“These measures are meant to encourage people to pay up before we assume actions that many will consider hard and cruel in this prevailing environment,” Mafume said.
Mafume said the revenue raised will be channelled directly towards improving service delivery.
This includes paying workers responsible for water supply, sewer systems, drainage clearing, road maintenance and development control.
“These measures are for us to be able to provide services.
“We need to be able to pay those who clear drainage, water, roads, sewer and many other services,” he said.
Impeding Heavy-Handed Measures
However, the mayor warned that if residents do not take advantage of the incentive window, council will have no option but to resort to stricter debt recovery measures.
“We have other measures that are harsh which we don’t want to be forced to employ.
“If you do not want to pay, we will end up issuing summons, attaching immovable property and even attaching houses,” Mafume said.
He stressed that while council understands the economic hardships facing residents, failure to respond to the current initiative will leave the local authority with little choice but to enforce the law in order to keep the city running.
The debt relief scheme is expected to be presented to full council and approved by central government before it comes into effect.
