Gweru City Council has suspended chairperson of the Gweru Residents and Ratepayers’ Association (GRRA), Cornelia Selipiwe, on charges of misconduct over utterances he allegedly made in an interview with the Daily News.
by Stephen Chadenga
Selipiwe, a former workers’ committee spokesperson, is alleged to have committed “an act of conduct or omission inconsistent with the fulfillment of the express or implied conditions of his contract of employment”.
“On January 27, 2016 you published in the Daily News, a statement, which is calculated to bring the employer or other person into hatred, dishonour or which gave the impression that some wrongful conduct or breach of the law has been committed,”part of the allegations by council read.
Selipiwe was quoted in the paper, questioning how the $20 pump fee levied to all households and how much the commission running the affairs at council were getting in allowances.
He is, however, still to be served with detailed charges levelled against him and to furnish council with a written response to the allegations within 48 hours.
Council barred Selipwe from entering its premises during his suspension.
Selipiwe confirmed receiving the suspension letter last Thursday and that his lawyers were preparing a response.
In the first place,why did the local authority allow the employee to be a representative of the rate payers?This alone placed this man in an unenviable confrontational position with the employer as a representative of rate payers, already attracting a conflict of interest. These remarks purported to have been made by the employee, were said by this man wearing a jacket of a civic organisation.The viable option,therefore, is to settle this matter amicably without resorting to disciplinary measures being instituted against this man.In other words,the employee should be given enough time to decide whether to remain an employee and resign from the civic organisation or resign as an employee and retain the leadership of this civic organisation.This would prevent this matter spilling into courts with unbearable costs both to the employee and the local authority.
well said Vivian v siziba
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