WHEN COUNCILS STEAL, CITIZENS DRINK SEWAGE

On a hot afternoon in Chitungwiza, children play near a stream of raw sewage running past their homes. The smell is strong, the water dark and dirty, but this is the normal life of thousands of residents. People wait for clean water that never comes, and garbage piles higher each week. Yet money was given to fix all this. The Auditor-General’s 2024 report shows the funds were there. They were simply stolen, hidden, or wasted.

The report looked at 92 councils and found 1,042 problems in one year. That is more than one thousand red flags in just 12 months. Behind every number is a broken promise. Behind every missing receipt is a family drinking unsafe water. Year after year the reports come, and year after year nothing changes. Councils know no one will hold them to account. Workers inside see the abuse but they cannot speak. Zimbabwe has no strong whistleblower law to protect them. Silence is the safest choice.

Take Ruwa Town Council. It was given ZWL 1.2 billion for water projects. Residents expected taps to run. Instead, the projects stalled. People are still queuing at boreholes. In Buhera, money was given for boreholes too. The boreholes were not finished, yet the funds were all spent. Villagers still fetch water from rivers. In Gokwe South, contractors were paid to repair roads. Nothing was done. The roads remain dust and mud. In Chegutu, a refuse truck was bought with devolution funds. It vanished before it was even used. These are not accidents. These are crimes against citizens.

Revenue is also disappearing. Harare and Bulawayo lose millions in unpaid bills every year. In Bindura, council workers collected cash and kept it for weeks without banking it. In Kadoma, debtors owed more than ZWL 1.4 billion. There was no plan to recover it. The councils then cry poverty while they starve themselves through leaks and theft.

The report also shows assets being misused or missing. In Bulawayo, 11 council vehicles worth millions were not on the register. No one explained where they went. In Marondera, land was sold without valuations, with councillors themselves among the buyers. In Zvishavane, title deeds for land could not be found. And in many rural councils, fuel and cars were used by staff for private errands. This is looting dressed up as local government.

The result is the collapse of basic services. In Masvingo, garbage piled up while funds for refuse projects disappeared. In Kwekwe, taps ran dry while money for water chemicals was diverted. In Buhera, unfinished boreholes forced whole villages to drink unsafe water. People pay rates, people pay taxes, but they live in filth.

The numbers prove the rot is not shrinking. In 2023, there were 998 audit issues. In 2024, there were 1,042. Councils are not fixing problems; they are multiplying them. Why? Because insiders who know the truth stay silent. Without a whistleblower law, speaking out is dangerous.

The Auditor-General can only look back. By the time reports come out, the money is gone. But whistleblowers can act in real time. A clerk in Ruwa could have stopped the water project scam before billions were lost. A finance officer in Bindura could have exposed missing cash. A project engineer in Buhera could have proved boreholes were fake.

Zimbabwe does not lack evidence. We lack courage in law. Section 14 of the Prevention of Corruption Act is too weak. A real whistleblower law could break the silence. It could turn insiders into defenders of the people. Until then, corruption will always win, and residents will always lose.

The stench in Chitungwiza is not just sewage. It is the smell of corruption, heavy and rotting. Until we protect the truth-tellers, our councils will keep stealing, and our citizens will keep suffering.