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From Tawanda Mangoma in CHIREDZI
Workers at Malilangwe Conservation Trust here are up in arms against one of their bosses whom they accuse of harbouring intentions to pursue regime change agenda. Workers at the Trust alleged that tourism manager Mr Jason Turner was repeatedly forcing them to “copy some skills” from recordings of the #ThisFlag and Tajamuka demonstrations and gruesome Xenophobia clips in which South Africans were killing foreigners, including Zimbabweans, in cold blood.

According to leaked minutes of a staff meeting held on October 17 last year which is in possession of The Herald, the workers complained about Mr Turner’s interference in the country’s politics.

They indicated in the minutes that they wanted Mr Turner, an American citizen, to keep his political opinions a secret, while more focus should be on the primary goal of the Trust.

According to its website, Malilangwe Conservation Trust “is a wholly Zimbabwean owned non-profit organisation that focuses on harmonising conservation activities, community development outreach programmes and commercial tourism”.

“Jason (Turner) often states things of a political nature that undermine the President and present Government,” read the minutes. “This puts the staff in a difficult position when they are asked about the political opinions of Malilangwe management.”

The workers demanded a response from the company’s Human Resource Manager Mr Tendayi Nhunzvi, who was present in the meeting.

“What is the Trust’s opinion of this and how would they handle it if it were a lower level employee, bearing in mind its a level 4 offence, number 24?” reads the minutes.

“At work, staff are shown inappropriate videos, for example xenophobia clips and #ThisFlag and Tajamuka clips.”

Mr Nhunzvi confirmed that the minutes in possession of The Herald were indeed a reflection of what transpired in the meeting, but said the Trust wanted to “resolve the matter internally”.

“Yes, the contents of those minutes are true, but we solved the matter internally,” he said in a brief response.

According to the minutes, Mr Nhunzvi told the workers that the organisation was apolitical and everyone should keep his/her political feelings to themselves.

“Advised that we are an apolitical organisation and it is not good to discuss politics at workplace, even if freedom of speech is enshrined in our Constitution,” he is quoted as saying in the minutes.

“It is not proper for an HOD (Head of Department) to share his views in public as he is considered to be in a position of influence and this can be viewed in wrong context.”

The Trust’s director Mr Mark Saunders contradicted Mr Nhunzvi by saying the allegations were fabricated.

“I am going to give you my response in two sentences,” he said in an interview. “We carried out our own investigations and we established that there was misrepresentation of facts.”

Some workers who spoke to The Herald on condition of anonymity said they once raised complains against Mr Turner, but the response from their top leadership was not that pleasing.

They accused the Trust of protecting Mr Turner whom they said had negative thoughts against the ruling zanu-pf and its Government.

“He forces everyone in the tourism department to watch violent videos, while he speaks bad about zanu-pf,” said one of the workers.

“He shows us #ThisFlag and Tajamuka clips and the Xenophobia attacks. We are told that we should do this against our Government so that we can get better salaries.

“He says the opposition is the only key to our success.”

The workers said this year, Mr Turner publicly criticised Government for organising the 21st February Movement, saying it was a waste of resources.

Malilangwe Conservation Trust, through its Singita-Pamushana Lodge, has managed to draw some of the world’s big names such as American billionaire Bill Gates and world acclaimed musician Shakira.

With preparations to receive its principal donor and American billionaire Mr Paul Tudor Johns II next month, workers said they would like all these matters brought to his attention.