THE AUDITOR-GENERAL HAS SPOKEN: ZIMBABWE IS BLEEDING FROM THE INSIDE

Zimbabwe’s councils are collapsing before our eyes. The Auditor-General’s 2024 report has pulled back the curtain and revealed what we already suspected: billions of public funds are vanishing while garbage piles up, taps run dry, and half-built clinics stand as monuments of failure.

This is not about small errors. It is about a system designed to leak, bleed, and rob the people. Across 92 councils, 1 042 issues were flagged in one year. Over a thousand red lights flashing, and yet the same problems appear every year. Why? Because no one dares to speak out. In Zimbabwe, there is no whistleblower law. Silence is safer than the truth.

Look at the numbers. Out of 92 councils, 52 failed to submit financial statements by March 2024. Some have gone three years with no accounts at all. Billions of dollars in devolution money and residents’ rates went through these councils with no scrutiny. Imagine the scale of theft hidden in that blackout.

Devolution was supposed to bring services closer to the people, but instead it became a feeding trough. Ruwa Town Council got ZWL 1.2 billion for water projects. The money was used, but the taps are still dry. Buhera RDC got funds for boreholes. The boreholes are unfinished, villagers still drink from rivers. Gokwe South paid for road rehabilitation, yet the roads remain dust and potholes. Chegutu bought a refuse truck. The truck vanished before it ever touched the streets. These are not mistakes. These are crimes.

Revenue leakages bleed councils from within. Harare and Bulawayo lose millions in unpaid bills, yet they have no plan to collect. In Bindura, auditors found millions collected but not deposited. Staff simply sat on the money. In Kadoma, debtors owed over ZWL 1.4 billion, but the council shrugged. Councils cry “we are broke,” while money slips through their own fingers.

The assets story is worse. Bulawayo lost 11 vehicles from its register with no explanation. In Marondera, land was sold in the dark, buyers included councillors themselves. Zvishavane could not even locate its title deeds. Across the country, council fuel and vehicles were treated as personal property. In Chegutu, the famous missing refuse truck shows how deep this rot goes.

And who pays the price? The people. In Chitungwiza, sewage runs past homes while money for sewer upgrades “cannot be accounted for.” In Masvingo, garbage lies uncollected. In Kwekwe, residents face endless water cuts while funds meant for water treatment are diverted. In Buhera, boreholes were promised, but villagers still walk miles to fetch unsafe water. Every missing receipt is not just paper — it is a broken promise, a child without clean water, a family living in filth.

The cycle keeps repeating. In 2023, councils were flagged for 998 issues. In 2024, the number rose to 1 042. Instead of fixing problems, councils multiply them. And why? Because no one is punished. Insiders who could expose the abuse remain quiet. They know that in Zimbabwe, truth-tellers lose their jobs or worse.

The Auditor-General looks backwards, but by the time the report is out, the money is gone, the projects abandoned, the tenders looted. Only whistleblowers can stop corruption in real time. A procurement clerk in Ruwa could have saved ZWL 1.2 billion. A finance officer in Bindura could have stopped cash from being pocketed. A project engineer in Buhera could have revealed the borehole scam. But they are gagged by fear.

That is why Zimbabwe needs a strong whistleblower law now. Not a weak clause hidden in the Prevention of Corruption Act, but a full, independent law that shields insiders and punishes anyone who tries to silence them. Without it, corruption will always win.

The 2024 Auditor-General’s report is not just numbers. It is dirty water, broken roads, and endless queues. It is human suffering written in financial language. The silence is deadly. Zimbabwe must break it.