BY TAKUNDA MANDURA
ZIMBABWE’S councils are collapsing in broad daylight.
The Auditor-General’s 2024 report on local authorities revealed a disturbing reality in which billions of public funds are being mismanaged or abused, while residents are left with uncollected garbage, dry taps, and unfinished clinics.
These results set the stage for a deeper look at the factors that drive this dysfunction. The findings were not minor technicalities, but evidence of a system designed to leak, bleed, and fail.
A total of 1 042 issues were raised across 92 councils —over a thousand red flags in a single year. Yet, this is an all-too-familiar pattern: year after year, the same problems are flagged, and year after year, nothing changes.
The question is, why does this cycle persist? The reason is simple: fear of victimisation. Those who see the abuse first who are the insiders, have no safe way to speak up.
In a country without a standalone whistleblower protection legislation, silence becomes a necessity for survival, perpetuating the same problems identified year after year.
When Councils Do not Account Out of 92 local authorities, 52 failed to submit their financial statements for audit by March 2024. Some had gone for three years without producing accounts.
This blackout means billions of dollars in devolution and ratepayer funds flowed through councils without any independent scrutiny. Councillors and residents were left in the dark.
In a country with whistleblower protection, council staff could safely alert the public that books were being hidden.
Instead, silence protects mismanagement. Devolution Funds: Money Disbursed, Projects Stalled The devolution programme was supposed to bring services closer to people. Instead, the Auditor-General found case after case of funds being abused.
Ruwa Town Council received ZWL 1.2 billion for water projects. The projects stalled. Residents still queue at boreholes. Buhera RDC got funds for borehole drilling. Many boreholes were never completed, but money was fully disbursed.
Villagers still fetch water from rivers. Gokwe South RDC paid contractors for road rehabilitation. No work was done. Roads remain impassable. Chegutu Municipality bought a refuse truck with devolution money.
The truck disappeared before it was even commissioned. These are not accidents. They are deliberate failures. A junior procurement officer or project engineer probably saw the irregularities, but without legal protection, why risk a job to blow the whistle?
Revenue Leakages: Councils Starve Themselves Harare and Bulawayo councils failed to collect millions in unpaid rates and bills. In smaller councils, auditors found that collected cash was not banked on time, exposing funds to theft.
In Bindura RDC, collections worth millions were not deposited into council accounts for weeks. Staff simply kept the cash. At Kadoma City Council, debtors owed over ZWL 1.4 billion, but the council had no strategy for recovering the money.
Residents suffer twice: first when services aren’t delivered, and again when councils claim they are “underfunded.”
The truth is, the money is leaking internally. But who inside the councils will expose it without protection? Assets: Missing, Misused, or Sold in the Dark In Bulawayo City Council, 11 vehicles worth millions were off the asset register. No explanation was given.
In Marondera Municipality, land was sold without valuation. Buyers included councillors and senior officials. In Zvishavane Town Council, title deeds for council land could not be located, raising the risk of illegal disposals.
In several rural councils, fuel and vehicles were routinely used by employees for private errands. In Chegutu, as already noted, a refuse truck bought with devolution funds vanished.
The case was “under investigation,” but no arrests had been made by the time of the audit. Insiders could know where that truck went. But silence is safer. Basic Services Collapse While Funds Vanish The clearest evidence of abuse is visible in the streets.
In Chitungwiza, raw sewage flowed in residential areas while funds for sewer upgrades were “unaccounted for.” Masvingo City failed to complete refuse collection projects despite receiving funds.
Garbage piled up in the suburbs. In Kwekwe, residents faced endless water cuts while funds meant for water treatment chemicals were diverted. Buhera RDC’s unfinished boreholes left entire villages drinking unsafe water.
Every missing receipt, every unsupported payment, every abused tender translates directly into human suffering. And yet, the same patterns repeat every year.
Why the Same Problems Keep Coming Back The Auditor General does not just audit; some findings roll over each year. In 2023, local authorities were flagged for 998 issues. In 2024, the number rose to 1 042.
That means councils are not fixing problemsthey’re multiplying them. Why? Because no one is held accountable. Staff who could expose the abuse remain silent.
In a system without whistleblower protection, silence is rewarded. Why Whistleblower Legislation Matters Now The Auditor-General can only look backwards. By the time reports are tabled, the money is gone, the tenders are looted, and the projects are abandoned.
Whistleblowers can stop the bleeding in real time. A procurement clerk in Ruwa could have flagged the stalled water project before ZWL 1.2 billion was wasted. A finance officer in Bindura could have exposed cash collections being pocketed.
A project engineer in Buhera could have revealed that boreholes were being faked on paper. The Prevention of Corruption Act criminalises victimisation, but it has failed to deliver significant convictions.
Section 14 in particular needs to be strengthened into a stand-alone, robust law that directly tackles the depth of corruption in Zimbabwe. Current measures are weak, reflected in Zimbabwe’s poor performance on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index.
That gap keeps corruption alive. The Cost of Silence The 2024 Auditor-General’s report on local authorities raised 1,042 issues. Each one is a service residents have never received: Every issue is evidence that Zimbabwe’s councils are not just failing — they’re being allowed to fail.
The price is paid by residents, in dirty water, broken roads, and endless queues for basic services. Final Word: Protect the Truth-Tellers Zimbabwe doesn’t need another audit report to prove corruption exists.
The Auditor-General has already done the work. What the country needs is courage, legal courage to protect the people who see the rot first. Whistleblower legislation would stop corruption overnight, but it would break the code of silence.
It will turn insiders into allies of accountability instead of prisoners of complicity. Every day without whistleblower protection is another day corruption wins.
And in Zimbabwe’s councils, that means another day residents live without water, sanitation, or dignity. The evidence is clear. The numbers are damning. The silence is deadly. Zimbabwe must act now.
Takunda Mandura is the Communications and Advocacy Officer for Transparency International Zimbabwe. He writes in his personal capacity.
