Harare Residents Trust Demands Immediate Reversal of “Erroneous” September Charges as Council Admits It Is “Puzzled”

Harare– Residents of Sunningdale, Harare, were left shocked and confused this week after receiving September 2026 household bills showing water consumption charges, despite being on prepaid water meters.

The unexpected charges have raised serious questions about the accuracy of the Harare City Council’s billing system and the protection of residents from potentially incorrect charges.

The Harare Residents Trust (HRT), which received multiple complaints from disgruntled residents, said the charges should not appear on the bills of households using prepaid water meters. The organisation has called for the immediate reversal of the disputed charges.

According to the HRT, Ward 10 Councillor Clayd Mashozhera sought clarification from finance officials after receiving complaints. The officials reportedly admitted they were “equally puzzled” and said they were still investigating the source of the anomaly within the billing system.

“The water consumption charges are not supposed to appear on the bills of residents on prepaid water meters,” the HRT said in a statement.

“An investigation with no timeline leaves residents carrying the burden. Residents are being asked to keep paying for a problem they did not create.”

The trust acknowledged the need for an investigation but insisted that residents deserve more than an assurance that the matter is being looked into. “They need clear explanations, a defined timeframe for resolution, and confirmation of what will happen to the disputed charges,” the HRT said.

Prepaid water meters were introduced in Harare as a measure to ensure residents pay for water upfront and avoid accumulating debts. Under the system, households purchase water credits in advance, which are loaded onto a token or card and deducted as water is consumed. Once credits are exhausted, the water supply is automatically cut off until the resident purchases more.

The system was intended to bring order to the city’s chaotic billing, which has plagued residents since 2019. However, the latest incident suggests that the linkage between the prepaid metering system and the municipal billing records remains flawed.

The HRT expressed particular concern about the impact on vulnerable households in Sunningdale, including elderly residents who may struggle to read or interpret municipal bills, and child-headed households whose young members may lack the knowledge or capacity to identify questionable charges.

“Such residents could unknowingly pay for water they have already purchased through prepaid water meters,” the HRT warned.

“A billing system that depends on every resident identifying and challenging an error places an unfair burden on those least competent to do so.”

The trust also raised a fundamental question: “How can residents trust the City’s billing system if households using prepaid water meters can still receive bills showing water consumption charges? Is this an isolated technical or administrative error, or does it point to a wider weakness in the City’s billing controls?”

While the HRT said it had no conclusive evidence to suggest the charges were part of a deliberate scheme to improperly collect money, it noted that unexplained charges can undermine public confidence and create legitimate fears that residents may be paying twice for the same service.

The HRT has called on the City of Harare to urgently complete its investigations and publicly explain the cause of the September billing anomaly. It also demanded that the council identify all affected households, not only in Sunningdale, verify the water consumption charges against prepaid water meter records, and correct the accounts without requiring every resident to lodge an individual complaint.

“Any amounts wrongly charged or paid must be reversed, credited or refunded through a transparent and verifiable process,” the HRT said.

The trust further urged the city to provide a clear deadline for resolving the matter and to communicate the outcome directly to affected residents. It also called for stronger safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future, including a review of the link between the prepaid water metering system and municipal billing records, routine checks to identify duplicate or inconsistent charges, and an accessible complaints handling mechanism.

Special arrangements should be made to reach elderly residents, persons with disabilities, child-headed households and other vulnerable members of the community, the HRT added.

In its conclusion, the HRT stressed that the central issue is not simply whether the September bills can eventually be corrected.

“It is whether the City of Harare is prepared to take responsibility for errors in its systems, protect residents from unjustified financial demands, and restore confidence in municipal billing,” the statement read. “Residents should not have to become accounting experts to establish whether they are being charged correctly for water.”

The trust noted that while the City of Harare has announced the reintroduction of the BIQ enterprise resource planning system, “there is a long way to go before residents can celebrate the new billing system.”

“Chaotic billing will remain until the officials become more serious, transparent and accountable. There are high possibilities of tampering with the billing system, given the numerous reports being received,” the HRT warned.

The organisation expects the city to resolve the matter transparently, account for every disputed charge, and demonstrate that residents’ money is being handled fairly and responsibly.