MORE than 30 employees of State-owned Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) yesterday spent their third night in the acting managing director’s office protesting over gross incompetence, corruption and non-payment of salaries since October last year.
BY MOSES MATENGA STAFF REPORTER
The workers said they had since written to the President’s Office, the ministry of agriculture, the board chairperson Basil Nyabadza and other stakeholders over the issues happening within the company.
They want the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to act on alleged corruption cases within the organisation.
When NewsDay visited the company’s premises in Harare yesterday morning, most of the workers had just woken up in Willard Mbona, the acting managing director’s office where they spent the night.
The workers also accused their board chairperson Nyabadza of lying that all was well within the company while engaging in suspicious deals for self-aggrandisement.
Chairperson on the workers’ committee Bauren Francis said they would continue sleeping in the office until management engaged them and address their concerns.
“We have gone for five months without pay here (at the head office) and a number of people in the farms have gone for over four years without pay,” he said. “There is no payroll since October last year, our pension is not being remitted and our families are in trouble because we are not being paid,” said Francis.
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“Ever since the acting general manager came, he has been fighting workers. We won some of the cases, but he uses company resources to appeal. If you go to our farms, there is no production and you wonder where these people are putting the money,” said Francis.
A workers’ committee member Edmore Chikobvu said: “The company lost a lot of money in a lot of deals including the wheat deal and we would appreciate government assistance in getting to the bottom of the issues taking place.”
“Nyabadza is always in the press saying all was well even in the ethanol project, but we are getting nothing from that,” another worker chipped in. “How can you have a company where the general manager is everything. He is the one who signs everything including a dollar to photocopy needed material. He has been acting for five years now and all he has done was to fight workers.”
Nyabadza and Mbona could not be reached for comment.
