By a Correspondent
The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) has renewed calls for the immediate publication and implementation of the Justice Maphios Cheda Commission of Inquiry report into the financial affairs of the City of Harare, saying the document has remained secret despite being handed over to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
In a statement, the residents’ watchdog said Justice Cheda handed the report to President Mnangagwa at State House on June 17, 2025, together with the commission’s recommendations.
But, the HRT says the report has neither been released publicly nor implemented.
“The report remains secret and unimplemented,” the organisation said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Mnangagwa appointed the commission in May 2024, led by retired High Court judge Justice Cheda to investigate financial mismanagement, corporate governance, poor service delivery, and corrupt land allocations within the Harare City Council dating back to 2017.
The HRT said the commission’s hearings had exposed serious governance and financial management concerns at Town House, with council officials summoned to give evidence about their roles and operations.
According to the organisation, Harare mayor Jacob Mafume appeared before the commission in 2023 and apologised to residents and the inquiry over governance failures, financial mismanagement and dysfunction at the local authority. The HRT said the commission’s work subsequently established what it described as serious problems in the running of council affairs.
The organisation also cited remarks by Justice Cheda, who described the situation as involving “too many dirty hands in the cookie jar” and said Harare City Council had been run by “unscrupulous individuals for decades”.
The HRT said it was concerned that the President had not publicly released the full report or implemented its recommendations, arguing that the absence of action was undermining efforts to address governance and financial shortcomings at the council.
The HRT also linked the continued controversy over council land to the delayed report, citing a proposal involving the conversion of the Powland road reserve and greenway into a private car sale. The organisation said the commission had specifically been tasked with investigating the sale and leasing of council properties and land.
The residents’ group is demanding the immediate release of the full Cheda Commission report, as well as publication of a 60-day implementation plan setting out timelines, responsible institutions and individuals, and the required budget.
It is also calling on the Office of the President and Cabinet to provide a public update explaining the delay in implementing the commission’s findings. The HRT further wants contentious land allocations, including the Powland car sale proposal, suspended pending implementation of the commission’s recommendations on land management.
The organisation has additionally called for investigations into officials it says may have been implicated by the commission and, where wrongdoing is established and convictions secured, appropriate sentences.
“The HRT is not ready to accept another secret funded by ratepayers,” the organisation said, arguing that the report concerns issues directly affecting Harare residents, including land, governance, roads, water and rates.
“An apology without action, and an investigation without implementation, means nothing,” the organisation said.
