UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING

TITLE: WORK RELATED LEARNING REPORT

NAME OF PRESENTER: JESCA B. MUYANGAMBANI

PURPOSE: A WORK RELATED LEARNING REPORT

SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR HFORACC DEGREE

REG NUMBER: R222637K

NAME OF ORGANISATION: MUNICIPALITY OF CHEGUTU

WRL SUPERVISOR: MR T. CHIKATI

WRL PERIOD: AUGUST 2024 TO JULY 2025

DECLARATION

I JESCA B. MUYANGAMBANI solemnly declare that this industrial attachment report submitted to the
University of Zimbabwe is an original work of my own efforts and has not been published or submited to
this organisation or any other institution of training for any academic award. For any errors in this report , I
will be held liable.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

Acknowledgements-------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i)

Dedication -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (ii)

Acronyms-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (iii)

Table of contents------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (IV)

CHAPTER 1
ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS
1.1 Historical Background -------------------------------------------------------------1

1.2 Administrative Structure and Organogram………………………………....2

1.3 Organization’s Core Business………………………………………….…...6

1.4 Funding Mechanism………………………………………………………..7

1.5 Organization’s Goal…………………………………………………….…..8

1.6 Links with other organizations…………………………………………..….9

CHAPTER 2
STUDENT’S PARTICIPATION AND OBSERVATIONS

2.1 Student’s Job description………………………………………………….10

2.2 Student’s Interaction………………………………………………………12

2.3 Qualification and Remuneration Packages………………………………..13

2.4 Student’s Impression of the Organization………………………………....14

2.5 Organization’s Place in Zimbabwean Media………………………………15

2.6 Link between Training at UZ and WRL placement……………………..16

2.7 Student’s Products and Productivity……………………………………….17

2.8 Student’s Innovations to the organization………………………………….17

CHAPTER 3
OVERALL ANALYSIS
3.1 Experiences and Empirical Evaluations……………………………………20

I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude to all staff members within the Finance Department. Mr. Chikati
(expenditure accountant), Mrs. Mutowo (creditors clerk), Mrs. Mayedzerere (assistant expenditure
accountant, Miss Mutimhodyo (bookkeeper) and Mr. Shuwa the director of financial services, for the great
support you showed me during my Work Related Learning period.

i
DEDICATION

I dedicate this piece of work to my colleagues and mentors, whose guidance and support have been
instrumental in my growth and learning. To the future learners and professionals, may this report inspire and
inform your own journey of growth and development.

ii
ACRONYMS

ICT - Information Communication and Technology

CBD - Central Business District

SR- Stores Requisition

MoF - Municipality of Chegutu

WRL - Work Related Learning

UZ- University of Zimbabwe

EA- Expenditure accountant

iii
 CHAPTER 1

ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANISATION

The Municipality of Chegutu is a local government authority located in Mashonaland West Province,
Zimbabwe. It was founded in the 19th century as Hartley. The town attained municipal status in 1974
through gazeting of the Rhodesia Government. The name however, changed from Hartley to Chegutu in
[Link] town is strategically located at the junction of two major international roads, that is, 106km
south west of Harare along the Harare-Bulawayo highway, 90km from Chinhoyi, the Provincial capital of
Mashonaland West province. As a growing urban center, Chegutu plays a critical role in providing essential
services to its residents, including water, waste management, sanitation, roads, emergency services such as
ambulance and fire fighting among many other services. With a population of approximately 66,000 people,
the Municipality is committed to delivering quality services that meet the needs and expectations of its
stakeholders.

CHAPTER 2

ORGANISATIONAL CORE ROLES

Municipality of Chegutu core business is to provide services to Chegutu residents. The services include
providing clean water, health services, housing, accommodation, and refuse collection facilities. Chegutu
Municipality is also responsible for protecting council property, investigating theft, damage, misuse of
council property, enforcing traffic and environmental by-laws as well as protecting cash-in-transit.

The city council supplies water to commercial, residential and industrial areas at a cost through the Chegutu
Water department. The Department is also responsible for installing water meters and fixing burst water
pipes. The council also collects waste in residential, commercial areas and also manages dumpsites.
Allocation, pegging, selling of land or stands, land development and servicing, management of city halls,
stadiums and gardens is done by the council through its Housing and Public Works department.

Municipality of Chegutu owns markets in both the formal and informal sector, controlling and managing the
operation of these markets through payment of rates to the council. Examples include Zay – Zey complex
Chegutu Mall. The Municipality of Chegutu licenses shops, a shop licensing fee is paid to the council in
order for shop owners to operate their businesses freely and failure to do so results to a penalty fee or a fine.

Moreover, the city council controls, monitor and allocate parking space at a cost in the CBD. It also provides
health facilities such as hospitals and clinics, burial space or cemeteries, parks, swimming pools and other
services to the residents.
2.1 Mission Statement

The official mission statement of Chegutu municipality is

“A Prosperous, Sustainable, Livable, and Attractive Municipality by 2030”

It highlights the organization’s commitment to economic growth, quality life for residents, visual appeal and
urban charm.

2.2 Vision

“To become a prosperous, sustainable, habitable and attractive municipality by 2030’

This shows an integrated aspiration to transform Chegutu to a place that’s not only economically vibrant but
also socially inclusive and environmentally sound by 2030.

2.3 Values

The organization’s core values are rooted in commitment to effective, equitable and accountable
governance. The key values are:

Accountability- Chegutu council and its staff take responsibility for decisions and service delivery.

Transparency- there is existence of open and clear communication between council and residents and
stakeholders.

Integrity- honest and ethical conduct are considered as the foundation of public trust to the council.

Teamwork- just like other organizations, teamwork is vital in municipality of chegutu. Collaborative efforts
among councilors, management, and citizens is ensured.

Inclusivity- council ensures equitable representation, including women, youth and persons with disabilities.

Result oriented- the organization is focused on achieving measurable service delivery outcomes.

Responsiveness- prompt, attentive handling of community needs and feedback is ensured.

Although not explicitly mentioned, Municipality of Chegutu also emphasizes on professionalism and
equity/fairness. All these values align closely to its goal and vision ensuring residents are at the council.

2.4 Mandate

Chegutu Municipality’s mandate is to provide effective, inclusive and sustainable municipal governance and
service delivery in accordance with national legislation, while promoting local development, public welfare,
and participatory planning.
CHAPTER 3

CORPORATE CULTURE

The corporate culture of Chegutu Municipality reflects the values, attitudes, and working norms that guide
how the municipality interacts with its residents, manages its staff, and delivers public services. It is shaped
by both its legal framework and strategic vision: “A Prosperous, Sustainable, Habitable and Attractive
Municipality by 2030.”

Key Features of Chegutu Municipality’s Corporate Culture

1. Service-Oriented Mind-set

The municipality places service delivery at the core of its operations.

Guided by the Client Service Charter, there’s an emphasis on efficiency, professionalism, and
responsiveness to resident needs.

2. Community Engagement

There is a strong culture of public participation.

Residents are encouraged to take part in budgeting, planning, and reporting processes, reinforcing
transparency and shared ownership.

3. Transparency and Accountability

Staff and leadership operate under clear principles of openness and ethical conduct.
Financial reporting, public audits, and council decisions are aligned with national governance standards.

4. Teamwork and Collaboration

Internal operations promote interdepartmental collaboration, shared planning, and unified implementation.

The municipality also collaborates with NGOs, businesses, and government departments to expand capacity.

5. Results-Driven Culture

The work culture emphasizes outcomes over processes.

Each department is expected to contribute to measurable targets—such as improved service coverage,

revenue collection, or infrastructure development.

6. Inclusivity and Equity

Reflecting its values, Chegutu Municipality fosters a non-discriminatory culture—actively engaging women,
youth, and people with disabilities in development processes.

7. Continuous Improvement and Learning

Staff development and capacity-building are seen as essential.

There’s a growing culture of learning from audits, performance evaluations, and citizen feedback

SWOT ANALYSIS OF MUNICIPALITY OF CHEGUTU

STRENGTHS

Diversified economic base: Agriculture (cotton, wheat, cattle), mining (gold, nickel, platinum), and agro-
processing industries (textiles, grain silos) create a stable portfolio of income sources.

Strategic location & infrastructure: Situated on the major A5 highway and a key railway line between Harare
and Bulawayo gives excellent connectivity for trade and transport.
Municipal planning and frameworks: The newly adopted 2024–25 Master Plan outlines long-term built-
environment planning, land-use strategies, infrastructure priorities, and monitoring mechanisms.

WEAKNESS

Water supply and infrastructure decay: Up to half of treated water is lost from old, leaking pipes,
exacerbated by vandalism and poor maintenance. Sewage bursts and contamination incidents are recurring
issues.

Overcrowding & inadequate housing: Growing population strains services and has led to the proliferation of
unplanned backyard shacks. High costs for serviced stands make it unaffordable for informal and low-
income residents.

Weak municipal finances & governance: Dependence on ratepayers—who are often unwilling or unable to
pay—limits revenue for operations. Political interference, insufficient engagement, and weak performance
from staff undermine delivery.

OPPORTUNITIES

Master Plan implementation: The 2024 plan offers a structured road map for phased development,
infrastructure upgrades, land-use rationalization, and performance tracking.

Public–private partnerships: Mining and agriculture sectors present openings for PPPs in infrastructure
investment—like water systems, roads, housing, or agro-processing continuity.

Enhanced community participation: Research highlights that increasing citizen involvement and
transparency can improve trust, payment compliance, and municipal accountability.

THREATS
Economic volatility: Macroeconomic instability (inflation, currency swings) threaten household incomes,
municipal revenue, and ability to finance service provision.

Environmental and health risks: Waste management failures, water contamination, and overloaded sewage
infrastructure have led to cholera, typhoid, and diarrhea outbreaks.

Urban sprawl and land pressure: Continued informal settlement growth without adequate infrastructure
could overwhelm planning capacity and accelerate environmental degradation.

SUMMARY OF SWOT ANALYSIS

Chegutu’s municipality benefits from a diversified economy rooted in mining, agriculture, and agro-
processing, supported by strong connectivity along the Harare–Bulawayo corridor and a 2024 Master Plan
designed to catalyze sustainable development. However, aging infrastructure, particularly in water and
sanitation, growing overcrowded housing, constrained municipal finances, and governance shortfalls
continue to impair service delivery. Stability and growth depend on leveraging partnerships with the private
sector, executing the Master Plan, and strengthening citizen engagement and financial transparency.
Persistent economic volatility and public health threats from environmental breakdown present urgent
challenges that the municipality must proactively manage to realize its development potential.
CHAPTER 4

FINANCE DEPARTMENT

The finance department at the municipality of chegutu is a very critical department which is responsible for
the company’s finances.

The department is headed by the Director of Financial Services, Mr. F. Shuwa who reports directly to the
town clerk, Mr. J. Chikuruwo. The director is responsible for both planning and controlling all council
finances and advising on financial policy.

Core functions

1.1 Revenue Collection and billing

The Finance department consists of the Revenue Section. This section is responsible for revenue
collection and billing. The section is led by the Revenue Accountant Mr. Mpangeri. The section handles
billing and collection of property rates, service charges, hall fees, and other municipal revenues.
The section operates multiple payment points such as Welfare Centre, Pfupajena and townhouse rates
hall to make payments accessible.
1.2 Expenditure control and cash management
The expenditure section is led by the Expenditure Accountant, Mr. Chikati. This section oversees and
authorizes council’s expenditures, monitors cash flow and enforces spending discipline to ensure
efficient use of funds in the organization. The section also works closely with the Creditors office where
payments to suppliers and debtors are invoiced.

1.3 Debtors Management

This is also part of the finance department which is responsible for debt collection and management. The
team ensure that debts are recovered in a timely and efficient manner.

1.4 IT and Financial Systems

The IT is led by the IT manager Miss Maketo. The IT plays a crucial role in maintaining the
municipality’s banking systems and information technology platforms supporting financial data and
transactions.

1.5 Grants and Donations Administration

The finance department is responsible for managing any external funding, grants, or donations. The
department oversees application, receipt and accountability and reporting processes.

1.5 Annual Budget Preparation and Review

The department of finance is responsible for drafting, revising and presenting the municipal budget each
year in accordance with the Public Finance Management and the Councils Act.

1.6 Preparation of Final Accounts and Financial

The department compiles end of year financial statements, audit ready reports and key disclosures. It
also incorporates IT systems and information for enhanced transparency and easier bookkeeping.

1.7 Income –Generating Projects

The department identifies and implements revenue diversification initiatives such as leasing municipal
properties or launching service operations to supplement traditional income sources.

STRUCTURE
CHALLENGES FACED BY THE DEPARTMENT

The municipality’s finance department faces multiple challenges in the day to day running of the
organization. Challenges faced include:

Limited IT Capacity

The department is promoting computerization, but there are gaps to be filled. There are limited gadgets,
hardware’s, software’s and staff skills.

Revenue leakage and under collection

As per municipal service audits, the revenue being collected is below budget.

Cash Flow Volatility

Irregular intervals in revenue inflow are exacerbated by macroeconomic instability, complicating effective
expenditure planning and debt servicing.
STUDENT ROLES AT THE ATTACHMENT

My involvement at the Chegutu Municipality helped in developing my career, understanding the work
environment and appreciation of the accounting industry. I gained insight of what is required and how well I
can equip myself in this field.

At chegutu municipality, I was working as a student under the expenditure accountant. My duties were
writing vouchers to process payments, numbering and filling of vouchers after payments, making payments
to suppliers through internet banking, making phone calls to those suppliers without their banking details
provided, computing calculations for those going on business trips so that they can get paid trip allowances
through T and S claim form and prepare the creditors / suppliers age analysis.

In the course of my attachment I managed to help reduce costs which were being incurred due to making
payments to wrong banking details of suppliers. I did this by bringing up the idea of confirmation of banking
details through direct calls to suppliers first before any payment is made. This made my colleagues realize
that internal control is a more important aspect than blame game. This made my colleagues value team work
and therefore enhanced my leadership skills.

I also took part in doing reconciliations for the year 2024. This helped in enhancing my knowledge in bank
reconciliations since I was now applying theoretical knowledge into practice. I also got to experience and be
part and parcel of 2023 financial audit. I also worked closely to the Director of Financial Services as a
Personal Assistant and that was an advantage to my profile since I gained insights about finances.

STUDENT INTERACTION

I managed to establish and maintain good working relations within and outside the organization. I also had
the chance to mix and mingle with experienced accountants, auditors and directors from other organizations.
This helped in growing much knowledge in the industry.

Interaction with internal and external stakeholders is vital because it enables me to share suggestions and
ideas that would help the organization to improve and grow. This interaction helped me to know the
importance of teamwork and in a working environment.
Multitasking is also part of the student greatest experience. The student practically experienced how to
manage time and how to have a quick turnaround time in terms of service and product delivery. How to
manage three or more task with inconveniencing the clients.

Also getting to mix and mingle with other colleagues on different events such as clean-up and other
campaigns helped in many ways. I go to refresh whilst understanding the importance of teamwork and
gaining knowledge of other departments and sections.
STUDENT’S IMPRESSION OF THE ORGANI ZATION

The industrial attachment gave me an in-depth knowledge on how local authorities operate as well as
realizing the complex structure of the Municipality of Chegutu. These structures enable it to operate on a
day to day basis.

Municipality of Chegutu is an organization that is highly dependent on its stakeholders which is a very
important characteristic. Every employee and stakeholder is a valuable member of the company as they are
all team players. Team working spirit is vital to the organization as it increase productivity and protects the
corporate image of the organization thus brand image.

Management of time is of important value to this organization as it is the most fundamental aspects that need
respect in any organization. Most events done in the organization are done on time and require time frames.
For example meeting deadlines for tax returns submission. This taught me how to use the SMART idea in
setting up goals.

The company is the sole provider of most of services it offers. There is a lot of pressure because the
organization has to make sure that the residents’ needs are met.

Municipality of Chegutu recently launched decentralization of services. The move intended to improve the
quality of service delivery by taking service provision away from the head offices of departments and
increasing service provision at districts office level, closer to service consumers. The council had further
grouped districts into regions in order to pool resources and create synergies where equipment was not
adequate.

Skills Acquired During WRL Placement

The Work-Related Learning provides an opportunity to learn more about the industry, through practical
implementation of theoretical study and also sharpen the analytical skills.

Communication skills

Communication, being the life blood of any organization, must be effective, must flow vertically, laterally or
horizontally to achieve the best. With the knowledge obtained at the workplace I have improved
significantly on communication skills and I now able to communicate with people from all levels. I also
learnt that an effective dialogue also involves good listening skills in order to reach an agreed decision or
agreement.

Time management skills

Time management is vital in order to make the best out of it. It involves techniques for planning and
scheduling time to increase effectiveness and efficiency corporate time use .I am now able to manage time
and meet deadlines for events, news writing and articles.

Decision making

Making the right decision is a very important thing especially when you are in a crisis so, there is need to
develop problem solving solutions. I am required to make decisions on my own. This enabled me to make
meaningful decisions. I also acquired a skill of analyzing information before decision making.

Secrecy

I also improved greatly on keeping secrets of the organization as at times the student would edit confidential
documents as well as reporting news. I also noticed the importance of role boundary thereby not including
my views when writing speeches for the Mayor, the Chamber Secretary or the Town Clerk.

Leadership skills

Leadership is the ability to motivate a group of people towards a common goal. Leading P.R teams on
assignment requires knowledge, dedication, efficiency and effective leadership skills. The democratic
leadership style it encourages participation in decision making, consultation with group members and selling
of ideas and final decisions to them. This leads to a motivated staff, improved performance and achievement
of targeted results.

Teamwork

I developed a desire and willingness to work with others in achieving individual and team objectives.
Therefore, gained confidence and each member sees contribution in a realistic manner.

Adaptability

Being able to adapt to the situations that present themselves, or the environment one finds him/herself, is
very important as this will be the determining factor of whether one will succeed or fail. Adapting to the
working environment at Municipality of Chegutu was a fairly easy thing to do as the people there were very
friendly and hospitable. The senior staff also treated the student as part of the team with time that even some
of the staff from other departments were surprised when they get to know that it’s an intern.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE UNIVERSITY

The intern highly values the current curriculum at the University of Zimbabwe which equips students with
the skills necessary to competently demonstrate assigned tasks during the attachment period. However, there
are areas which the student felt had to be addressed to continuously produce a pool of competent students.
The areas are outlined below:

 Meeting with supervisors during the early stages of the attachment program

The university should meet with the industrial supervisors so as to shed more light on areas where
they expect the supervisors to mentor the interns and on the scope of information that can be given to
interns as the industrial supervisors might neglect areas which might be of value to interns.

 More practical work in Accounting Information System

Accounting information systems should mainly focus on practical aspects and introduces the students
to accounting packages such as PROMUN and Pastel as the knowledge of these packages is vital
considering the level of computerization in accounting.

CONCLUSION

This report was prepared to fulfill the academic requirements of the Honors degree in Forensic
Accounting offered at the University of Zimbabwe using information about Municipality of Chegutu.
The information used in compiling this report was gathered solely for academic purposes and not for
other motives such as company evaluation. The report also highlighted the usefulness of the
attachment program as it provides students with the opportunity to apply theory to practice, acquire
new skills and decide on the career to pursue.