DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: City of Harare Bolsters ERP Rollout with 100-PC Procurement

 Harare's Town House

HARARE – In a strategic move to modernize its notoriously fragmented accounting systems, the City of Harare has announced the procurement of 100 state-of-the-art computers to support the full-scale rollout of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The update was delivered by Ward 18 Councillor Rufaro Matsika during a high-level consultative meeting with the Borrowdale Residents and Ratepayers Association (BRRA) at the Borrowdale Country Club on Tuesday night.

The ERP system is viewed by stakeholders as the "silver bullet" for Town House’s longstanding transparency issues. For years, the lack of a synchronized digital ledger has led to billing discrepancies and audit queries from the Auditor General’s office.

“The City of Harare has procured about 100 computers to support the ERP system. This will strengthen corporate governance and help curb irregularities,” Matsika told residents. “The system will also address accounting challenges and significantly improve efficiency in service delivery.”

The transition to a robust ERP is expected to automate revenue collection and expenditure tracking, reducing the human interface that has historically been a conduit for financial leakages.

While the digital shift offers a glimmer of hope for administrative efficiency, Matsika was candid about the "unsatisfactory" state of essential services. Residents of Harare East continue to grapple with persistent water shortages and aging infrastructure.

“Our teams continue to attend to pipe bursts and unblockages, but the water situation remains unsatisfactory,” Matsika acknowledged. She noted that major pipe replacement works are currently underway, which are anticipated to stabilize supply once completed.

However, the Councillor reminded ratepayers that digital transformation and infrastructure repairs are capital-intensive. She urged residents to settle outstanding bills to provide the liquidity necessary for the council to sustain its "world-class city" ambitions for 2026.

The procurement of hardware is only the first step. Expert analysts suggest that the true test for Town House will be the successful migration of legacy data into the new ERP and the training of staff to prevent a relapse into manual, opaque processes.

Harare City Council ERP system