For years, the City of Harare relied on the BIQ Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, provided by Quill Associates, to ensure its financial operations ran seamlessly.
From receipting and billing to managing a precise general ledger, the BIQ system was the backbone of the city’s fiscal management.
However, in 2019, contractual disagreements between the city and Quill Associates disrupted this balance, leading to the system’s abrupt deactivation.
Though the city retained the BIQ server and its invaluable data in its data center, it lost live access to the system—a blow that created operational bottlenecks.
Faced with mounting challenges, city officials sought advice from the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) and proposed engaging CCG System, the vendor of Sage Evolution, as a stopgap solution.
The proposal was approved through SPOC resolution 0300.
But the stopgap quickly became a stumbling block. Sage Evolution proved incapable of meeting Harare’s complex operational needs, leading to widespread inefficiencies.
Revenue leakages soared, audits became chaotic, and security vulnerabilities exposed the city’s finances to heightened risks.
Public frustration grew, with citizens demanding accountability for the city’s financial mismanagement.
The extent of the crisis was laid bare in the Auditor General’s reports for 2018 and 2019, which highlighted severe financial reporting challenges linked to the absence of a robust ERP system.
Among the most concerning findings was the inability to verify $200 million due to the deactivation of BIQ.
The Auditor General urged the city to prioritize restoring the BIQ system. This, the report noted, would address existing discrepancies while providing a foundation for implementing a long-term ERP solution.
As the city struggled to chart a way forward, the Ministry of Local Government issued a scathing letter highlighting Harare’s failure to meet the June 30 deadline outlined in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “Call to Action, No Compromise to Service Delivery” blueprint.
In the letter, Permanent Secretary for Local Government Dr. Basera outlined a transitional plan to address the ERP crisis.
“The local authority has developed a transitional plan underpinned by the following implementation legs: reconstitution of the ICT Steering Committee to comprise representation from both City of Harare and the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to look into the ERP issue so as to oversee the ERP implementation
“Appointment of a team to manage the project as per project management guidelines. Review of the state of the previous ERP system installed in the Council server to ascertain restoration and implementation feasibility Reactivation of the old ERP system within the confines of the law in order to have a functional ERP within the shortest possible time. Renewal of SAGE Evolution annual licence to allow for data migration,” said Dr. Basera
He added “Finalisation of the re-engagement with Quill Associates for a period of 2 years while a shared procurement with the Ministry is embarked on. The proposed period should also allow for data migration, system testing and full cycle processing of accounts for reporting purposes.”
