Fidelis Munyoro
Chief Court Reporter
A hospital accountant who uncovered a US$19 000 fraud committed by three subordinates has lost his bid to overturn a disciplinary finding that he failed to supervise them, with the Labour Court ruling that exposing the theft did not absolve him of his own duties.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Susan Chivizhe, the court dismissed Webster Zimbume’s appeal against the Health Service Commission’s decision to uphold his conviction for misconduct and a penalty of demotion for two years, coupled with a transfer from Banket District Hospital to Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital.
Zimbume, who joined the health service in 2003, had argued that the disciplinary finding lacked evidence because he was neither involved in the theft nor implicated by the criminal court.
He maintained that the fraud had been committed by his subordinates, whom he eventually reported to the authorities.
But Justice Chivizhe ruled that the charge against him was not theft or complicity, but failure to perform his supervisory duties as a district accountant.
“The appellant was at no stage charged with, or found guilty of, theft or complicity in the misappropriation of the US$19 000,” the judge said.
“He was charged with, and found guilty of, dereliction of his own supervisory duties as district accountant.”
The court heard that three employees, Luckson Dzeka, James Koroni and Marlon Kaguda, allegedly operated a scheme between December 2024 and March 2025 in which hospital fees were not banked on time.
The shortfalls were concealed by matching current banking against figures carried forward from previous master receipt books.
Zimbume discovered the problem while reconciling accounts on March 21, 2025, after noticing a decline in revenue.
Five days later, he reported the suspected fraud to the District Health Officer. A cash count on April 4 confirmed that US$19 000 could not be accounted for.
The three employees were subsequently convicted of theft of trust property by the Banket Magistrates Court on October 8, 2025.
Zimbume testified for the State, and the criminal judgment recorded his evidence as instrumental in establishing how the fraud had been carried out.
However, during his disciplinary hearing on June 26, 2025, he conceded that he had failed to do his job in January and February.
He also admitted that he had not checked receipts against master books and banking slips because he had been busy.
The judge said these admissions provided evidence for the misconduct finding, noting that banking was expected within 48 hours while the scheme went undetected for months.
The court rejected Zimbume’s argument that he could not be held responsible for criminal acts committed by subordinates, saying the employer had not imposed liability for their theft but had examined his own performance.
“The question is whether he failed to exercise the supervision required of him,” Justice Chivizhe said.
“On the evidence, including his own admissions, the disciplinary authority was entitled to find that he did.”
Zimbume also argued that the Commission had breached the parity principle because an accountant at Gweru Provincial Hospital who faced similar charges had received only a reprimand.
The court dismissed that argument, finding that no details had been provided about the other case, including the sums involved, the period of negligence, the employee’s seniority or the reasons for the penalty.
“A bare assertion that ‘a similar case’ resulted in a lesser sanction does not discharge the onus of proof,” the judge said.
On the penalty, Zimbume argued that demotion and transfer were disproportionate. The court acknowledged his years of service, clean disciplinary record, cooperation, remorse and role in reporting the fraud.
However, Justice Chivizhe found that the disciplinary authority had considered those factors and imposed a two-year demotion rather than dismissal.
The court also rejected the argument that the two measures amounted to double punishment, holding that they formed “a single, integrated sanction” intended to ensure closer supervision.
The judge dismissed all six grounds of appeal and confirmed the Commission’s December 29, 2025 decision.
There was no order as to costs, with the court finding that the appeal was neither frivolous nor vexatious and noting that Zimbume had ultimately helped expose the fraud.
