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Yeukai Karengezeka Herald Correspondent
The Chitungwiza Municipality is paying $87 000 monthly to its former employees who won their labour cases against it.

The local authority has been forced to make payment plans to offset claims from the 93 cases it lost through abitral proceeding and at the High Court.

According to a Chitungwiza human resources department monthly report for April this year, the local authority was handling 93 cases, including 26 court awards in favour of its employees.

“There is a cumulative figure of 93 cases in which council has entered into payment plans and eight new payment plans were recorded during the period under review,” reads the report.

“This figure also includes the 26 awards that are in favour of the employees. There is a monthly obligation of $87 000 that should be paid to former employees that relate to these payment plans and court awards.”

The council recently lost a case against 44 of its employees who were supposed to be paid $368 000 and it was working on the payment plan.

“A case in which 44 employees sued council for non-payment of terminal benefits and salary arrears has been ruled in favour of the employees and total obligation to be paid to employees is $368 003,” reads the report.

“The department engaged the union concerned and a payment plan is being worked out with 74 being added to the initial 10 former employees having been put on payment plan.”

On the other hand, the report stated that the municipality was handling 84 labour cases, which were still pending before the courts and labour officers under the same period of April. Of the 84 cases, 43 are being handled by the head of human resources, while council lawyers are handling the remaining 41 cases.

The majority of the cases are from employees whose services were terminated and have approached the Ministry of Labour suing council for either non-payment of salary arrears terminal benefits or unfair dismissal.

This comes at a time when the municipality is struggling to offer proper service delivery to its residents, while poor human resources management has left the municipality facing a long list of litigations from its aggrieved former employees.