Takunda Mandura
Harare—A multi-million loan, a forensic audit, missing funds and just about nothing to show for anything.
This sums up the scandal involving Harare City Council’s quarry business entity.
In 2017, the City of Harare extended a US$4.5 million bank loan to Harare Quarry (Pvt) Ltd, a council-run business entity, to finance its operations and enhance efficiency and profitability.
Five years down the line, concerns were rising that the company still remained in the woods, with hardly anything to show for the multi-dollar loan, ending in a recommendation for a forensic audit by the Finance and Development Committee.
The audit exposed gross financial mismanagement and misuse of funds against lack of output, and the Quarry board chair was instructed to report the matter to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
No action
However, the chairperson, Oswell Binha, failed to comply, claiming he had not been part of the proceedings when the resolution was agreed upon.
It was only in September 2024 that the matter was handed over to ZACC.
Revelations made by respondents during the ongoing Mafios Cheda commission of inquiry into the affairs of the capital’s municipality have given a glimpse into the rot at Harare Quarry.
“We resolved that if the board chairperson failed to file the report, the town clerk would assume responsibility for submitting it,” a councillor, Lovemore Makuwerere, told the commission in his submissions.
As a result, in August 2024, a full council meeting resolved to hand over the case to the town clerk, Hosiah Chisango, to ensure that law enforcement took effect.
Harare Quarry (Pvt) Ltd is a subsidiary of the City of Harare, specialising in the extraction and processing of granite for various construction needs.
Located at the corner of Joshua Nkomo Road (formerly Airport Road) and Dieppe Avenue in Harare, it supplies quarry stones of different sizes, raw materials, and aggregates to both the city and private customers.
Despite being owned by the City of Harare, it functions as an independent entity with its own board of directors and staff organogram.
Its products are widely used in road construction, building projects, and other infrastructure developments.
Passing the buck
Current Harare mayor, Jacob Mafume, put the blame of mismanagement squarely on the Quarry management and distanced his council from the malfeasance.
“The money was stolen… before we were elected as councillors. This was done by the previous council and previous management. We were elected in 2018. The loan was advanced earlier,” Mafume also told the commission of inquiry.
Former mayor, Bernard Manyenyeni, described Harare Quarry as a morgue when he handed it over to his successor, saying “there is no life” at the entity.
City of Harare’s chamber secretary, Warren Chiwawa, confirmed that the Quarry case had been reported to ZACC.
He also revealed before the commission of inquiry that the missing US$4.5 million disappeared under the leadership of Antonia Zvoutete, who was the general manager.
Still intact from prosecution, Zvoutete is now the Marondera chamber secretary.
Several other executives have been accused of presiding over the Quarry rot, among them the director of works, Isaiah Chawatama who, however, ironically blamed the entity’s poor performance on lack of capitalisation and outdated equipment.
Despite concerns about financial transparency, Harare Quarry continued to sell products and even launched an e-commerce platform in 2021 for online orders and customer engagement.
But there are no records indicating that the business concern remitted any money to the capital’s municipality as required.
The forensic audit revealed that the quarry company paid at least US$56,000 to suspected ghost workers, while key documentation went missing under mysterious circumstances.
In September 2024, parliament’s Public Accounts Committee chairperson, Charlton Hwende, expressed frustration over the city’s failure to follow up with law enforcement agencies over the missing millions.
“As a committee, we don’t tolerate abuse of funds. We don’t tolerate current officials who don’t follow up on forensic reports and who don’t make sure that all the abused funds are accounted for,” said Hwende during a tour of Harare Quarry.
Adding to the criticism, legal expert Norbert Phiri, a member of the commission of inquiry, stretched the blame of mismanagement to the municipality’s management.
“The majority of the board members at Harare Quarry are City of Harare employees or assignees. So the failures of Harare Quarry are a result of the City of Harare’s mismanagement since they control the board,” Phiri noted.
Harare Quarry board chairperson, Oswell Binha, has said the city council, as a shareholder, was frustrating the process of resuscitating operations at the company.
Rescue plan
As Harare Quarry’s financial troubles deepened, the City of Harare approved a corporate rescue plan in 2024, placing the struggling company under the management of City Parking, another council-owned entity.
Harare Quarry requires at least US$1 million to restart operations, but its financial records paint a grim picture.
According to a report by the town clerk’s office that is dated 3 October 2024, the cost of production consumed 80% of revenue, leaving only 20% for administration and financial obligations, a business model considered unsustainable.
It remains unclear what fate Harare Quarry faces as residents and stakeholders follow the scandal closely.
Mafume has promised to report the 7-year-old matter to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), but it is hazy how that will align with the fact that it has already been handed over to ZACC.