By 
Harare residents are reeling from the shocking revelation that their Town Clerk, Hosiah Chisango, is taking home a jaw-dropping $30,000 monthly salary, in addition to an assortment of extravagant allowances. This scandal, which has sent shockwaves through the capital, has also sparked outrage among struggling council employees, who are barely surviving on meager wages that remain unpaid.
Investigations have exposed a secretive and bloated payroll benefiting top executives within the Harare City Council. While Mayor Jacob Mafume has been striving to bring these excesses to light, his efforts have been aggressively blocked by powerful figures such as Deputy Town Clerk Matthew Marara and Acting Human Capital Manager Bosman Matengarufu both of whom are allegedly beneficiaries of the corrupt system. The mayor’s findings so far have revealed not just the exorbitant salary but also an eye-watering $1 million splurge on luxury vehicles, funds that could have been channeled towards much-needed service delivery improvements.
Beyond the staggering salary, Chisango reportedly enjoys a holiday allowance of $19,000, an entertainment allowance, a clothing allowance, and even full school fees coverage for his children, all at the expense of taxpayers. Meanwhile, ordinary council employees receive a meager $112 in Nostro and 6,000 ZiG, payments that have been delayed for months. Frustration is mounting, and insiders warn that the city is sitting on a ticking time bomb, with employees threatening to riot if the corruption is not addressed.
As essential services collapse, the glaring disparities between council executives and employees have never been more evident. The city is grappling with a dire shortage of diesel for service delivery, leaving garbage uncollected and water supply erratic. Health facilities lack basic medication, sewer blockages have become commonplace, and the roads remain in a deplorable state. Despite this, top officials continue to enrich themselves while residents and workers suffer. Shockingly, just one month of Chisango’s salary could be enough to cover the full wages of all council employees and alleviate many of the pressing service delivery crises.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) is under mounting pressure to act. Calls are growing for ZACC to investigate Chisango’s nostro accounts to uncover the full extent of financial mismanagement within the council. A senior council staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned that failure to act swiftly could result in mass protests. “We’re sitting on a powder keg. If employees from Grade 7 to 16, who haven’t been paid since January, find out what Matengarufu is hiding from the Mayor, they will storm Town House without waiting for union leaders,” the staffer said.
The discontent brewing within Harare’s workforce and among its residents has reached dangerous levels. Many believe that without urgent intervention from anti-corruption authorities, the city could descend into chaos. The executive leadership of the council, described by insiders as ruthless and willing to go to extreme lengths to protect their corrupt dealings, remains untouchable unless the government steps in decisively.
“We can’t let them continue to loot and pillage while we suffer,” said one frustrated staffer. “The Commission of Inquiry is trying, but ZACC must act now or risk being complicit in council’s corruption. If they don’t, protests and demonstrations are inevitable.”
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