MOSES MADYIRA
MIRROR REPORTER

CHIKOMBA – Chikomba Rural District Council (RDC) has lost with costs a Supreme Court case in which it is fighting against the reinstatement of one of the four workers it fired over a shortfall of RTGS50c (less than US50c) in 2020.
Sources said the amount involved in the matter was not even enough to buy a loaf of bread and yet council is now estimated to have spent over US$130 000 on the four cases.Justice Chiweshe, sitting at the Supreme Court two weeks ago threw out Chikomba RDC’s appeal for condonation and extension of time sought by the local authority to overturn a Labour Court judgment given in favor of Lawrence Magwiroto a senior Revenue Officer.
Residents, councilors and other stakeholders expressed disgust at the legal fees spent by the local authority on a case involving less than US$1. They called on council to stop pursuing the case forthwith as it was a big drain on council coffers.
Justice Chiweshe dismissed last week’s appeal with costs after reading the documents filed of record.
The workers’ dismissal was first rejected by the National Employment Council for Rural District Councils (NEC). Dissatisfied by that ruling council went to the Labour Court where it again lost the case. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court confirmed the local authority’s wild goose chase.
The workers are represented by James Gumbi from the Union while Council is represented by Herbert Mutasa of Gill Godlonton and Gerrand.
Bullen Chiwara, Chikomba RDC CEO, Bullen Chiwara said the local authority is pursuing the case because councilors see merit in it. He also said council has a budget in place for such legal cases.
“Thank you for your concern regarding the labor cases in question. I am not in a position to comment on the merits of the case because this is subjudice. On fees used thus far, I can inform you that the council has a budget for legal fees in the event of such unwelcome developments,” said Chiwara.
Chivhu Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (CHIRRA) Chairman David Marufu described council’s pursuit of the matter as sheer arrogance and vindictiveness.
“All the pointers are that council will not win the case so why waste precious resources. We begin to suspect that somebody is benefitting from the case. Council must either take workers back or give them a severance package,” said Marufu.
The local authority fired a bus levy collector, Martha Mudzana in 2020 for a financial error of RTGS 50c. She was fired together with Lawrence Magwiroto, a senior revenue officer and two other bus levy collectors namely, Rosa Chikwama and Violet Mukombo.
In financial terms, the error was reported as ‘under-mastering’ of a total of RTGS 250 on July 7, and on July 11, 2020, there was an ‘over-mastering’ of RTGs 300. The workers were liable to pay the difference of RTGS50c
The local authority however, suspected that the workers were acting in collusion to swindle the local authority. They were charged with fraud and all the four were dismissed after internal hearings.
On March 29, 2021, the Exemptions Committee of the National Employment Council (NEC) for Rural District Councils quashed Mudzana’s dismissal following an appeal.
Chikomba RDC appealed to the Labor Court against the NEC ruling and the appeal was thrown out after the local authority failed to provide evidence that Mudzana was a fraudster. Then the local authority appealed to the Supreme Court.
The local authority also lost all three other cases at NEC while Magwiroto won at Labor Court to which the local authority has appealed for condonation at Supreme Court, Chikwama. Rosa’s judgement at Labor Court is still pending and Mukumbo Violet’s case is now at the Supreme Court.