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Mkoba principal defies court order

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Mkoba Teachers College principal Florence Dube is reported to have defied a Labour Court order and refused to let three transferred lecturers resume duty at the college, a move the lecturers lawyers said was contemptuous of the court order. In a letter dated June 13, 2012, addressed to the principal, the lawyers from Baera and […]

Mkoba Teachers College principal Florence Dube is reported to have defied a Labour Court order and refused to let three transferred lecturers resume duty at the college, a move the lecturers lawyers said was contemptuous of the court order.

In a letter dated June 13, 2012, addressed to the principal, the lawyers from Baera and Company warned they would notify the Bulawayo Labour Court of the principals refusal to comply with its order.

The Bulawayo Labour Court issued a provisional order ordering, inter alia (among others), that our clients go back to Mkoba Teachers College with immediate effect, read the letter.

The order has been served on yourself but you have refused to let our clients resume duty at Mkoba Teachers College.

Please be advised and warned that the above order is not negotiable. Your conduct is contemptuous of the court order.

The decision by the lawyers followed a ruling by Bulawayo Labour Court judge Justice Selo Nare two weeks ago when he reversed the transfers of the college lectures alleged to be ringleaders in an industrial action held in September last year.

The affected lecturers are Chakauya Blood Magwati, Christopher Mashawa and Stalin Musingarambwi, all lecturers at Mkoba Teachers College who were transferred to the United College, Seke Teachers College and Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic College.

In his judgment, Justice Nare further ordered that the Ministry of Higher Education meet the cost incurred by the lecturers when they were transferred and pay costs for their movement back.

The court also ordered the Salary Services Bureau to stop deducting $100 a month that the ministry was deducting on lecturers found guilty of taking part in last years strike.

In cases where deductions had already been made, the ministry was ordered to reimburse the affected lecturers in full and the court also ordered the Ministry of Higher Education to pay costs for the application.

The ministry, represented by its permanent secretary Wellington Mbizvo, conducted hearings for 250 lecturers who participated in the strike last year.

Thirty-one of the lecturers found guilty were transferred from their different work stations to other institutions as punishment for their involvement.