….. Amid Fuel Mismanagement, Rising Debt and Revenue Shortfalls
By Delicious Mathuthu
Gweru – The City of Gweru is facing a trifecta of financial challenges, as recent Full Council and Finance Committee reports reveal critical issues with fuel mismanagement, escalating debts and substantial revenue shortfalls.
The findings, confirmed during the 713th Full Council meeting held on Tuesday March 11, 2025 and presented during the March 4, 2025, Finance Committee meeting, highlight systemic problems that seriously threaten essential service delivery and the city’s financial stability in general.
The City of Gweru’s fuel management system has come under scrutiny following revelations of faulty fuel pumps and fuel contamination.
The city is set to lose more than 2,000 litres of fuel which is to be disposed after being contaminated inside the fuel pump tanks at the city’s central stores.
Gweru City Council Acting Director of Finance, Michael Verenga said the city’s diesel and petrol pumps have been malfunctioning since November 2023.
He said despite repair efforts in April 2024 by external contractors, Dale Breeze, the pumps continue to experience airlock issues, disrupting diesel distribution to city service vehicles.
“Our diesel pump has been facing persistent airlock challenges, which have not been resolved despite repairs,” the Acting Director said during the meeting.
Fuel quality tests conducted by Petro Lab in July 2024 confirmed significant contamination.
The tests revealed excessive water levels in 1,840 liters of diesel and 450 liters of petrol, rendering the fuel unsafe for use.
The Finance Committee recommended the disposal of the contaminated fuel and proposed exploring the replacement of outdated underground storage tanks, a recommendation adopted by Full Council during the March 11 meeting.
No clear timelines have been provided to fix the problems.
In addition to fuel management issues, the City of Gweru is grappling with a ballooning debt crisis.
Latest financial reports reveal that council debtors increased by ZiG35.6 million between December 2024 and January 2025, increasing total council debtors to over ZiG503 million.
A substantial portion of the debts arise from unpaid town service fees and residential rates.
Council debts have also surged by ZiG19 million in January alone, reaching ZiG79.6 million.
The city is also struggling to meet its Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) obligations, which accounts for about ZiG75.3 million of its debt total.
“Our collection rate in January stood at just 40.51% against a target of 75%,” Verenga said on the council struggle to maximize on collections.
“Non-functional water meters and an inaccurate valuation roll are major contributors to this shortfall,” he said.
Local governance experts say without more aggressive debt recovery strategies and structural reforms, the city faces the risk of service delivery interruptions and continued financial instability.
The financial challenges are further compounded by significant revenue deficits.
The January 2025 budget report revealed an adverse variance of over ZiG44.4 million.
The city billed ZiG90.1 million, falling short of the ZiG110.6 million target.
Key revenue streams such as property rates and water fees underperformed, with property rates alone falling short by ZiG31.7 million..
The city’s liquidity is also under pressure as cash collections dropped from ZiG42.5 million in December 2024 to ZiG35 million in January 2025.
Although there was a temporary increase in USD revenue due to annual business license renewals, the sustainability of the boost is short lived, the report reads.
The city’s Acting Finance Director, Verenga, cited several structural challenges including outdated water meters, incomplete property records and delayed government grants which are bedeviling the city.
Some of the recommendations from the finance committee in trying to address the issues include a phased meter replacement program, and enhanced debt collection efforts, but without any clear comprehensive action plan outlined.
