Harare faces billboard revenue scandal

Harare City Council is under scrutiny over apparent revenue losses from billboard advertisements across the capital, with Mayor Jacob Mafume describing the situation as a "major revenue scandal." The issue came to light during a full council meeting at Town House last week, where Mafume questioned the finance department on earnings from outdoor advertising, alleging systemic fraud.

"You are facilitating fraud," Mafume told council officials. "We are losing a lot of revenue from advertising. It's a major revenue source for anybody, for any institution."

Council accountant Benjamin Nhukarume admitted that the income collected from billboards was "not clear" and "insignificant," sparking outrage among councillors. Mafume said the lost revenue, if properly harnessed, could fund critical upgrades to water, sanitation, and road infrastructure in the city.

For years, the billboard sector in Harare has operated in a regulatory grey area, with numerous companies erecting structures without proper permits or consistently paying fees. Previous council audits have highlighted millions of dollars in potential revenue lost annually.

"Billboards of varying sizes and standards crowd intersections, often obstructing sightlines and creating urban clutter, with no clear public record of which is legally sanctioned," Mafume noted. He placed direct blame on council officials for failing to implement proper oversight, accusing committees of rejecting regulatory proposals over "phantom costs."

Mafume also highlighted the untapped potential of the sector, citing that a single stadium's advertising could generate nearly US$500,000 a month. He called for urgent digital intervention, demanding a centralised system to track all billboards, their owners, and payment status.

"No one knows how many billboards we have," he said. "I want a system so that you don't blame each other. The system will tell us that this billboard is not paid up...we go and cut it."

The mayor argued that a digital auditing system would eliminate ambiguity, create a transparent database, and ensure efficient revenue collection and enforcement. Council officials have been tasked with implementing measures to address the long-standing revenue leakages and bring order to the capital's sprawling outdoor advertising industry.