adminBULAWAYO City Council last week controversially fired one of its senior engineers whom it accuses of leaking confidential council information to the media, it has been learnt.
The embattled local authority had initially suspended Engineer David Jana as a means of saving face after a series of court battles with the Affirmative Action Group which was calling on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Cde Saviour Kasukuwere to dissolve council over a number of corruption allegations.
This was after this publication published a dossier outlining a string of corruption and mismanagement cases by senior council officials.
In the latest development, Eng Jana was last week found guilty and subsequently fired by the local authority, however, under controversial circumstances. The controversial hearing reportedly saw the local authority convening a disciplinary committee comprising a council ambulance driver, former game ranger and a low-ranking administration officer to hear the senior engineer’s case which in some instances involved highly technical terms.
Sources close to the hearing revealed that Eng Jana’s lawyer spent half of the day trying to protest the composition of the committee but to no avail.
“It looks like the outcome of the hearing was pre-determined judging from the composition of the hearing committee. It was clear that the process was just a mere formality and they were not even interested in getting Jana’s technical input. Eng Jana is one of the most senior officials hence according to council regulations the hearing was supposed to be heard before people either in his grade or even higher, it does not make any sense for his fate to be decided by a mere ambulance driver,” said the source.
Contacted for comment, BCC senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu could not confirm that Eng Jana had been fired but defended the composition of the committee revealing that the local authority had a trained disciplinary and grievance committee.
“The City of Bulawayo has a pool of trained Disciplinary Authority and Grievance Committee members. Taking into consideration the level, in terms of grade of the accused employee and which department he or she works under, the human resources manager on behalf of the town clerk then appoints the Disciplinary Authority members to hear the accused employee’s case,” said Mrs Mpofu.
She revealed that in the event the employee is found guilty they could appeal to the council’s general purposes committee through the human resources department and the town clerk.
“If the accused employee is found guilty and a penalty is meted against them and they are not satisfied with the decision of the Disciplinary Authority, in relation to either the verdict or penalty or both, the aggrieved staff member submits a detailed appeal write-up to the town clerk, through the human resources section for submission to the general purposes committee, which sits as an Appeals committee in terms of council’s Dispute Resolution Mechanism,” she said.
She said in the event that the employee was not satisfied with the decision of the general purposes committee, they could then seek external recourse starting at the Ministry of Labour.
Eng Jana’s dismissal comes after the local authority was forced into a legal battle with the AAG, after the pressure group implored the courts to dissolve the council owing to the corruption allegations levelled against them. In the urgent chamber application made by AAG, Minister Kasukuwere and Bulawayo Provincial Administrator Ms Khonzani Ncube were cited as first and second respondents respectively.
In the pressure group’s founding affidavit they allege the local authority has tenders worth $8 749 914 that have serious irregularities due to massive corruption, nepotism, negligence and collusion of Bulawayo City Council officials.
AAG also issued the city’s mayor Councillor Martin Moyo an ultimatum to explain a number of tender allegations levelled against the local authority, with the same group also petitioning the local authority following alleged widespread tender irregularities involving the local authority.
The group was irked by reports that contracts with a combined value of about $8,7 million were retendered or extended after winning companies either disappeared or failed to complete projects. It was alleged that defaulting companies were working in cahoots with senior council officials who played both tender adjudication and supervisory roles, creating fertile ground for manipulation in the bidding process.
Online Reporter