Kwekwe councillors have accused senior council officials of shortchanging the local authority by authorising full payment for goods and services before delivery.
A recent council audit revealed that two of the local authority’s suppliers had not yet delivered goods paid for five months ago.
Council audit chairman Aaron Gwalazimba confirmed the audit findings, adding the local authority had been prejudiced of over $10 000.
“We pay for products in advance, sit for four months, then go to our lawyers when people start asking questions about why council paid money for products that were not supplied,” he said.
Gwalazimba said his committee would soon institute internal investigations into the matter to ascertain why advance payments were being made at a time council was struggling to manage its wage bill.
According to documents shown to NewsDay, on March 15 this year council, through remittance advice 0107347, paid Waterlily $3 235 for the supply of 1 000kg of activated carbon.
However, to date the supplier has not yet delivered the product.
On March 27 this year, council also paid $115 to Almtrecks Trading Pvt (Ltd) and on April 10 transferred $5 885 to the same company for the supply of motor vehicle spare parts, but the company was yet to deliver.
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In a letter dated July 12 ref MM/vm/s6, council’s acting director of finance Morris Mutema ordered the local authority’s lawyers Wilmont and Bennett to recover the $10 850 paid four months ago to the two companies.
“We made two payments to two suppliers called Waterlily and Almtrecks Trading . . . All these have not been delivered. We are therefore instructing you to collect these amounts for us if they cannot deliver in seven days,” wrote Mutema.
