Some Harare City Council officials have been caught in a procurement scam where they were vying to buy 500 desktop computers at US$4,000 each, higher than the market price of about US$700.
At least US$2 million has been allocated for this purpose.
The Herald has learned that a tender process has been held sometime this year, with procurement officials said to be pushing for a company to peg the price of a single desktop computer between US$3,000 and US$4,000 while weeding out lower bids.
Research shows that the average price of a new Hp 290 G4 Microtower desktop computer with a 1TB hard drive and a 9th Gen Intel Core i5 processor costs about $700.
Harare Town Clerk, Engineer Hosia Chisango, said yesterday that the deal had been blocked.
“I have advised the procurement team to return to the market,” he said.
Harare IT Director, Mr Samson Madzokere, was said to be on leave.
“This is criminal,” said Mayor Jacob Mafume. “We will not allow this.”
However, serious divisions and infighting have since rocked the Townhouse with some senior council officials angry at the deal being blocked.
However, an informed source in the procurement department said that the order for desktop computers at inflated prices was just the tip of the iceberg.
“Yes, it is true that we have received quotes to supply more than 500 desktop computers.
“The price was $3,000 to $4,000 per desktop. Our budget was $2 million for the desktops.
“Although we have done the paperwork and are now waiting for payment, the move has been blocked. Almost everything we buy will be inflated with purchase prices. There is serious corruption going on, but it only benefits the top brass,” the source said.
Director of the Harare Residents Trust, Mr Precious Shumba, said the local authority was a crime scene.
“Corruption is deep-rooted and its perpetrators are not held accountable. Reports that someone wanted to buy desktop computers for $4,000 each are not surprising. The Harare Population Fund has received numerous reports of cost inflation of goods and services by its procurement department.
He said: “It is ironic that there is a group of council officials involved in these corrupt deals, but they cannot be touched.”
Mr Shumba said what made the situation so unfortunate was that companies that inflated the cost of services always got paid without delay but failed to deliver depriving the council of huge sums of money.
Mr Robin Akili, Harare Combined Residents Association, said the purchase of desktop computers was alarming and unacceptable at a time when the city was unable to provide vital services.
“We call on the local authority to be very serious about how it runs its business.
“It is very unfortunate (that they want to do this) at a time when we are grappling with service delivery.
“We call on the mayor to intervene. Those involved in these hoaxes must stop such practices. “It is reactionary,” he said.
