Harare City Council paid over US$11,000 for newspaper subscription and gadgets in a US$131,000 compensation package for suspended official

By Darlington Gatsi

HARARE City Council’s top official Mathew Marara has opened a can of worms with revelations that he benefited from an unlawful process at the Municipality that rewarded him with over US$100,000.

Marara, who was suspended from his duties at the City Council from December 2020 to May 2023, was controversially compensated by the cash-strapped municipality for the period he was absent from duty. The process through which he was compensated raises questions about its legality.

Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume established a negotiation panel to determine the amount of money the City would pay Marara.

Appearing before the Commission of Inquiry Tuesday, Marara revealed that the panel reached an agreement to pay him US$131,000.

The money included an astonishing US$3,256 as compensation for newspaper subscriptions, US$3,700 for a laptop, US$2,550 for a cell phone, and US$1,920 for an iPad among other benefits.

The inflated prices for Marara’s benefits raise concerns of corruption and mismanagement at the HCC.

RELATED: Harare Town Clerk’s assistant rakes in US$12,000 per month while ‘cash-strapped’ council fails to procure workers’ uniforms

However, the embattled Marara defended the payment saying he was entitled to the compensation.

“There were dues I was supposed to be given. By the time I was not at work, I was supposed to get these newspapers when I was at work so I am used to reading newspapers so I continued buying newspapers on my own. So I was reimbursed,” said Marara.

Marara’s controversial compensation comes at a time when the City of Harare is struggling to provide basic services to residents, citing a severe lack of funds.

This also adds to the ongoing financial controversy surrounding Marara, who previously told the retired Justice Maphios Cheda led the Commission of Inquiry that he earns US$12,000.

This salary is for a position specifically created for him within the City Council under questionable circumstances.

Marara told the Commission that other employees before him benefited from the inflated compensation compensation package, and a precedent had been set.

“There are a number of employees in the City of Harare who have similar deeds. It did not start with me. I put in my grievances and if the employer then chooses how to handle my grievance I did not see any problem with it.

“I could have benefited or not benefited. It was a negotiation. It was not given that I was going to benefit. They could have refused to give me everything. Before I came to do this deed of settlement there were other employees, one example is Dr Chimombe, and Tendai Kwenda. They had committees set of a similar nature.

“They are the ones who even gave benchmarks with regards to even the prices for gadgets. We just took them from what was set as the precedence in other negotiating platforms that were done,” he said.