The Sunday Mail
Tanyaradzwa Rusike
THE National Oil and Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (NOIC) has distanced itself from some members of the Zimbabwe Petroleum and Allied Workers Union (Zipawu) that have made allegations of corruption against the parastatal, saying the claims were arising from disgruntled former employees.
In a statement, chairman of the NOIC Human Resources Committee, Mr Wilson Manase said some of the Zepawu members who were fired for gross misconduct, including theft are masquerading as employees of the company.
Recently, the Zipawu members addressed a press conference claiming NOIC was involved in numerous cases of corruption including hefty salaries for top directors, manipulating the temperature of fuel to pocket the benefits and intimidating workers.
Mr Manase said the allegations by the ex-employees are aimed at tarnishing the company’s image as some of them were dismissed by NOIC even before Zipawu was formed.
“Notably, of the four persons who held the press conference, three of them are no longer in the employ of NOIC/PZL, two of them having been dismissed way before the Zipawu was even formed.
“Eriya Mashamba was dismissed from employment on November 5 2015 for breaching loading procedures, leading to loss of fuel through theft.
“Following his dismissal, he appealed through the established legal procedures right up to the Labour Court which dismissed his appeal. He did not pursue the matter any further.
“Panganayi Chiota was employed by PZL as a Pipeline Controller. He was dismissed from employment on December 15 2015, for failing to follow procedures resulting in contamination of fuel. He appealed against the dismissal right up to the Labour Court and his appeal was dismissed.”
Mr Manase said another Zipawu member, Brian Samaringa was dismissed from employment on June 22 2020 for breaching established loading procedures with the intention of colluding with truck drivers to steal fuel through under loading or overloading trucks.
“Following the exhaustion of the internal processes Samaringa did not pursue his case further,” Mr Manase said.
Contacted for comment on Friday, Mr Chiota, who is also the Zipawu acting secretary general said:
“We have seen the press statement by NOIC and we are actually drafting a response and we expect to carry out a live press conference on Monday (tomorrow).”
