Abstract
Corruption is recognized as one of the utmost challenges affecting urban councils in
Zimbabwe. The dominance of corruption in urban councils has largely contributed to the
failure of several urban local authorities to provide services effectively and efficiently. A closer
look at the state of service delivery in most urban councils in Zimbabwe discloses that
corruption is one of the depravities of transparency and accountability. Corruption has largely
contributed to poor service delivery in urban councils. Uncollected garbage, potholed roads,
congestion, unavailability of potable water as well as mushrooming of illegal settlements is
clear evidence of limited accountability and transparency mechanisms in urban councils.
Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the dimension of corruption and how it has
impacted on service delivery in urban councils. The paper offers answers to deal with
corruption as a way of improving service delivery. The paper is acquainted by a wide evidently
base which incorporates information acquired through interviews, focus group discussions,
participatory observation, and secondary research of sampled urban councils.
