Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
CHIPINGE Rural District Council is under mounting pressure to decide within two weeks whether to appeal a Labour Court ruling to the Supreme Court — a decision that could cost ratepayers more than US$300,000 if the verdict stands.
The case stems from the 2018 dismissal of Mr Samuel Chimuriwo, an artisan who rejected a lateral transfer to a supervisory role at Checheche Growth Point. The Labour Court found the council’s actions “meritless,” raising concerns over alleged abuse of office and mismanagement within the local authority.
After years of drawn-out legal battles across multiple labour platforms, Labour Court Judge, Justice Godfrey Musariri last week dismissed the council’s appeal, ruling: “The afore-going analysis resolves the relevant issues against appellant. Its appeal, therefore, ought to be dismissed as devoid of merit.”
Chipinge RDC chief executive officer, Mr Blessing Mamvosha, when contacted for comment, hinted at a possible Supreme Court challenge, but referred all questions to the council’s legal representative.
“I think this is a case that is still ongoing, and it is early for us to say anything. It is an issue that is being handled by our legal representatives,” said Mr Mamvosha.
Chipinge RDC lawyer, Mr David Tandiri, of Tandiri Law Chambers, said: “I am waiting for the client’s full instructions. The time within which to appeal expires mid-March 2026.”
As this case unfolded in all the different labour dispute hearings, councillors were not briefed.
Chipinge RDC chairman, Councillor Godfrey Makhuyana, said: “We were not aware of this case. We only got to hear of the developments after Mr Chimuriwo won the recent Labour Court case. This is an issue that we were supposed to get consistent updates from management, but somehow it was kept a secret from us, even the engagement of legal practitioners that represented council in the matter.”
Contacted for comment, Ministry of Local Government and Public Works spokesperson, Mr Gabriel Masvora bemoaned local authorities’ pursuance of court cases devoid of merit.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has noted with concern the growing number of cases in which councils are failing to effectively handle labour matters, with some disputes escalating to the courts. The ministry has observed that local authorities are losing most of these labour cases largely due to inadequate and poorly conducted negotiations at the local level.
“In many instances, issues that could have been resolved through proper engagement are allowed to escalate, resulting in costly legal battles and adverse judgments. It has also been noted that works council meetings are not being prioritised. The failure to convene regular and meaningful works council engagements has contributed significantly to the escalation of labour disputes, undermining harmonious industrial relations within councils. The ministry therefore urges all councils to strengthen internal dispute resolution mechanisms, prioritise dialogue through works councils, and ensure that labour negotiations are conducted diligently, transparently and in good faith to avoid unnecessary litigation and financial losses,” said Mr Masvora.
Permutations done by the Zimbabwe Rural Districts Councils Workers union (ZRDCWU) indicate that Chipinge RDC used not less than US$100 000 in legal costs during the eight years battle that it sought to dismiss Mr Chimuriwo.
ZRDCWU also revealed that reparations for Mr Chimuriwo in unpaid salaries and allowances are at least US$200 000.
RDCWU Secretary General, Mr James Gumbi said Chipinge RDC is losing not less than US$300 000 after the conclusion of the matter at the Labour Court.
“We will be doing the actual billing of what the council will have to pay Mr Samuel Chimuriwo. However, from what we have assessed, the local authority will pay not less than US$200 000 in salaries arrears and allowances to Mr Chimuriwo. As for the local authority’s obligations to the legal costs, I can safely say it should not be anything less than US$100 000. Merely looking at the file and reasonably comparing with similar cases, that should be the amounts involved,” he said.
Mr Gumbi bemoaned the tendency of local authorities involving themselves in futile legal battles ostensibly for personal financial benefits for legal practitioners as well as council senior managers.
“We need to put these matters into context so that we put it in the correct perspective. By September 2018, when Mr Chimuriwo was suspended there was an Act of Parliament that abolished Termination on Notice. The council was made aware. We forgive them that they are not lawyers, but we made them aware that the said provision, which they wanted to rely on, was abolished by an Act of Parliament.
“We went on for the past eight years, their lawyer arguing that they had dismissed him on notice despite being aware that Termination on Notice was abolished. So the challenge of the arbitrary award up to the Labour Court, was clearly made for commercial purposes. They knew they were flogging a dead horse,” he said.
Mr Gumbi thanked Local Government and Public Works Minister, Honourable Daniel Garwe, for holding local authority managers accountable whenever cases of abuse of office of this nature arise.
“These are things which I think, for the first time in the history of local authorities, the current Minister seems to be a no-nonsense man. There is serious abuse of office and finances. People use lawyers pursuing cases simply for financial reasons,” he said.
In Mr Chimuriwo’s case, after he was dismissed, the local authority splashed ratepayers’ money in pursuing, but repeatedly losing this matter in different labour courts irrespective of costly financial implications and meritless nature.
Mr Chimuriwo appealed internally during the same month and his appeal was not accepted at council level resulting in him appealing to the National Employment Council Exemptions Committee and the local authority lost the case in 2019.
Chipinge Rural District Council appealed to the Labour Court and they lost in June 2023.
Instead of reinstating him, council wrote him a letter of Contract Termination on Notice on July 14, 2023 and the matter went for arbitration and they lost.
In January 2025, Chipinge RDC appealed against the Arbitrator back to Labour Court and subsequently lost in February 2026 when Labour Court’s Honourable Justice Musariri dismissed the local authority’s appeal saying it “was devoid of merit.”
All this comes against a backdrop of months of unpaid salaries for employees as well as poor service delivery.
