In a bid to recover millions of dollars owed to the city, the Harare City Council has announced plans to engage debt collectors to recoup outstanding payments from defaulting residents and businesses.
According to Costa Mhande, the chairperson of the council's finance committee, Harare is currently owed a staggering US$70 million by a range of debtors, including residents, government entities, businesses, and neighboring dormitory towns.
"We have engaged more staff to engage with debtors so that we reduce our bill to the debt collectors that we hired," Mhande told journalists. "We urge residents to pay their bills on time before we come down on them."
The council's move to utilize debt collectors underscores the severity of Harare's financial woes, which have been exacerbated by the municipality's inability to effectively manage its billing system.
In January last year, the Ministry of Local Government expressed concern over the city's perennial failure to fix its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, a software platform designed to streamline business operations such as accounting, procurement, and supply chain management.
"We are still working on rectifying the [ERP] platform," Mhande acknowledged, indicating that the council continues to grapple with technical issues that have hindered its ability to generate accurate bills and effectively collect revenue.
The successful implementation of a robust ERP system is crucial for Harare, as it would not only improve the council's financial management capabilities but also help to ensure the timely collection of payments from residents and businesses – a critical step in addressing the city's mounting debt crisis.
