Service delivery in Kadoma has ground to a halt and the municipality has lost over $220 000 worth of opaque beer after council workers downed tools last week.
Kadoma councillors who spoke to NewsDay last week said the town was in financial dire straits prompting them to petition Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo to intervene and save the situation.
Documents made available to NewsDay indicate gross mismanagement of funds by managers who were reportedly siphoning council funds for personal use.
The audit report showed the town’s beer hall section was operating without a bank account making the entity a fraud risk.
In the report, the council acknowledged that it was on the verge of collapse due to huge outstanding debts, including workers’ salaries.
It was also noted that there was no asset register in the city, a development councillors said was making it difficult for council to operate effectively.
An audit done by an independent company revealed that internal controls within the city were weak and lacking in general enforcement.
“Controls on cash and safe-keeping of council resources are weak, mandatory financial records are not being kept or being updated, namely the cashbooks and general ledgers,” read the audit report.
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The audit also revealed that theft and fraud were rampant in the local authority,” the report added.
Councillor Bothwell Pasipamire said service delivery in the city was at all-time low and something needed to be done as a matter of urgency.
“We, as councillors, do not even know where the allowances the managers award themselves are coming from,” he said.
