Chinhoyi Municipality has taken over control of beerhalls following the suspension of the entire management board of its privatised liquor undertaking arm, Chinhoyi Liquor and Marketing (Chilma).
The board was suspended over allegations of incompetence and corruption.
Council’s finance committee chairman Divies Zinduru last week confirmed the takeover and suspension of the board.
“The board on two occasions failed to produce a detailed financial report and this forced council to set up a probe team to investigate operations of all the beerhalls.
“The inquiry unearthed gross mismagement leading to a full council resolution to suspend the board,” said Zinduru, adding a caretaker board had been set up to oversee liquidation of the company.
The probe team — led by Tichaona Mlauzi and Biggie Huruva — noted discrepancies and irregularities in the operations of the company. Part of the audit report reads: “A thorough audit could not be carried out due to the following: there was no cashbook showing all income and expenditure, invoices of purchases were not available as there was no proper recordkeeping, stock sheets were not filed and there were no basic accounting systems.”
The audit team recommended the disbanding of Chilma’s operations and that all beerhalls revert to council’s Housing and Community Services department for leasing out.
They also proposed the closure of Beerhall Number One and turn it into a flea market. Council’s beer outlets include Jongwe, Number One, Alaska and Shackleton.
