By Municipal Reporter-Sengezo Tshabangu close ally and Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume could face jail time after Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe recommended prosecution of city officials implicated in corruption and poor governance, following the conclusion of a year-long Commission of Inquiry into the affairs of the Harare City Council.

The commission, chaired by retired High Court judge Justice Maphios Cheda, submitted its final report to President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House on Tuesday.

The inquiry was initiated by the President in 2023 to investigate suspected financial mismanagement, corruption, and service delivery failures within Zimbabwe’s capital city.

The commission’s findings painted a grim picture of systemic rot at Town House.

It exposed widespread corruption, abuse of office, and lavish spending by officials under Mafume’s leadership—despite the council routinely citing a lack of funds to justify failure to deliver basic services to residents.

“Harare City Council is decayed to the core,” Garwe said following the handover of the report. “That is why the President established the Commission of Inquiry—to investigate the severe governance failures in our urban local authorities. Harare is the worst, followed by Bulawayo.”

He said the commission uncovered shocking levels of extravagance, with top city officials awarding themselves hefty perks and allowances while ordinary residents grappled with unsafe drinking water, garbage piles, and deteriorating roads.

Garwe indicated that if the commission’s report provides evidence of criminal conduct, including financial impropriety, the implicated officials—Mayor Mafume included—could face arrest and prosecution.

“The President will study the report and act on its recommendations. Where criminal activities are confirmed, those responsible should face the full wrath of the law, including imprisonment,” Garwe said.

Justice Cheda confirmed that the commission conducted nine months of public hearings, during which various stakeholders—including residents, city employees, and experts—testified about the dysfunction at Town House.

The report is expected to trigger a major clean-up of the city’s governance structures once reviewed by the President.

Mafume, as the sitting mayor, remains politically and administratively accountable for the state of affairs at the Harare City Council. His future now hinges on the decisions President Mnangagwa will take after reviewing the findings and recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.