… Seven receipt books missing
By Beatific Gumbwanda
Chiredzi Town Council is facing a financial scandal after US$18 000 paid to workers as advance payments went unaccounted for, with some employees having already left the local authority and failing to repay the funds.
The shocking revelation came out during a Full Council meeting held recently where the audit committee revealed that the Chiredzi Town Council has not yet recouped nearly US$18 000, allocated to employees as advance salaries in 2024.
Audit Committee Chairperson Sekai Njanjure said the committee discovered that the local authority was owed close to half a million Zimbabwean dollars (ZIG), which is equivalent to a staggering US$18 000.
“There is need for a policy to govern issues related to employees’ advance salaries. The council is currently owed US$18 000 or half a million ZiG and there is concern that some of the beneficiaries are no longer with the institution,” said Njanjure.
Njanjure said the committee also unearthed that there were seven missing receipt books from January to December 2024 that were not properly accounted for, and there were no records regarding the issuance of new receipt books.
Ward 5 councillor Philip Muchaendepi said there was need to have a sound resolution to deal with salary advances to recover the money
“We need to make a resolution to help us recover our money immediately. Some of the employees have supposedly left their jobs and need to return the money,” said Muchaendepi.
He called for a complete change of the revenue collection team at Chiredzi Polyclinic while investigations are underway.
“People have been stealing from the council and resigning before investigations can even begin. We need a complete overhaul of the receipting department at Chiredzi Polyclinic during this investigation,” said Muchaendepi.
Ward 2 Councilor Danford Chikanyau blamed the finance department for its failure to recover the funds, suggesting they should have taken initiative instead of waiting for the Human Resources department to make the deductions on the employees still at the council.
However, Finance Director Lloyd Musasa defended his department saying the Human Resources Department was responsible for processing the payroll, while his role is merely to facilitate payment.
“The Human Resources Department processes the payroll and submits it to the Finance Department for processing. They are responsible for making the deductions,” said Musasa.
Musasa indicated that they are currently gathering evidence to prepare a police report regarding the missing funds.
“We are compiling all the necessary evidence before making a police report,” he said.
Another councilor Vimbai Ushe pointed out the necessity for implementing the resolutions passed by the council rather than just discussing them.
“The audit committee has been providing resolutions, and we are passing them, but it should not end there. We need to implement how the council will address the missing receipt books and recover our money from employees,” said Vushe.
