MDC-T fuels corruption in local authorities

The move taken by the MDC-T leadership recently to influence the MDC-T-run Harare City Council to block a forensic audit of some Harare City Council-owned companies by the Auditor-General-appointed Price Waterhouse Coopers, has openly shown that the MDC-T has nothing to offer for the betterment of an ordinary person but only  there to serve its interests.  The MDC-T leadership has shown that it has a lot to hide, hence, the move influence its councillors to block such an audit.

The audit which was going to uncover how the Harare City Council companies' financial books have been handled since the time they started operations in Harare more than half a decade ago was blocked by the MDC-T councillors claiming that the audit was meant for a witch-hunt by the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Saviour Kasukuwere to the MDC-T run local authorities. The MDC-T councillors failed to see the importance of the forensic audit but only rushed to block such a noble idea on flimsy reasons.

Price Waterhouse Coopers which was appointed by the AG, to audit those firms was supposed among other things involved in auditing to obtain and review some agreements related to the establishments of those firms and how they were engaged to operate in Harare. The audit was also meant to analyse and scrutinize the cash flow at those firms as a way of establishing how revenue was being channelled to the City Council. So the move by the MDC-T to block such an audit led people to raise more questions than answers.

There have been some allegations that have been thrown around that some MDC-T run local authorities were tainted with corrupt officials and their move to block that audit makes the public believe such allegations. If the MDC-T leadership knew that they were clean there was no need to block such an audit. The rush by those MDC-T councillors to block that audit shows that they had a lot to hide which they did not want the public to know. They wanted to make sure that their suspected shoddy deals were not revealed. Their claim that the audit was a witch-hunt by Minister Kasukuwere against the MDC-T run Harare City Council does not hold water as  the auditors were appointed by the Auditor –General not Minister Kasukuwere as they wanted the public to buy that.

People are quite aware that some Harare City Council companies have been operating for some time and generating income for the same. Surprisingly residents of the same Capital City have been crying foul over the City Fathers' failure to offer good service delivery to the City. With money being generated from those firms some people expected an improved service delivery approach but the situation on the ground is not good. Roads around the City are littered with potholes with street lights not functioning well. Such a sorry state of the road networks in the capital city coupled with poor street lights drives the people to conclude that the City Fathers are abusing revenue generated by those firms and also money coming from the ratepayers, hence, the move to block that audit.

People expect the City Council to offer them good service deliveries that are commensurate with the income that could be generated by the City Council. The audit that was supposed to clear the air on how the finances of those firms were being handled was blocked by MDC-T councillors raising fears that the MDC-T could be hiding a lot of shoddy deals that they do not want them revealed. The MDC-T run-local authorities seem to have perfected well the art of harvesting where they did not sow. The blocking of that audit was a clear indication that this opposition political party, does not care about the poor service delivery they are offering to the residents but only concerned with fattening their wallets.

For the record, the Harare City Council has more than seven (7) firms which are operating in the city like EasiPark, City Parking, Pearly City Limited, Shawasha Business Complex, Mabvazuva Village, Sunshine Meats and others not mentioned which are bound to remit revenue to the City Council so that its coffers are replenished. Such firms if they regularly remit revenue to the City Council coupled with rentals and other rates from some ratepayers in the City, the local authority would not have problem offering better service delivery to the people. Despite generating considerable revenue from some sources mentioned above, the City Council remains crippled in its operations raising the belief from the public that some funds meant for development and services deliveries are being abused by the City Fathers.

The MDC-T should be aware that going against what the law says is tantamount to destroying one's personality. As is supposed to be done any company either public or private needs its books to be regularly audited as to see whether there is no abuse of its financial status by anyone in that company. For that reason the above-mentioned firms are also not immune to audit. So the MDC-T should not stand against the law and try to confuse the people into believing that they were being witch-hunted by Minister Kasukuwere. If they have nothing to hide they should let the audit be carried out as to unearth some shoddy deals if there are any. Actually they should let the firms get audited so that the truth comes out on how those firms have been operating since they started their services in Harare.

If the MDC-T continues to block the auditing of those firms people would come to conclude that this party is there to abet corruption from grassroots up to the top level. So this party should watch out and guard against that before it is too late.