A THREE-MEMBER CMED disciplinary tribunal has recommended the dismissal of suspended fuel and lubricants manager, Brian Manjengwa after finding him guilty on two charges in relation to the botched $2,7 million fuel import deal involving briefcase company, First Oil.
by PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
The tribunal — comprising of Mercy Gwaunza, Tapiwanashe Kujinga and Martin Simbi — found Kunjengwa guilty of gross incompetence and wilful disobedience of lawful orders.
“In the circumstances, the disciplinary tribunal accordingly recommended dismissal with respect to each charge that the respondent (Manjengwa) was found guilty,” the tribunal wrote.
“Respondent is found guilty of the following offences: Gross incompetence or inefficiency in the conduct of his work in that he failed to protect his employer through the inefficient due diligence that he conducted to establish that First Oil Company had fuel in Zimbabwe; and wilful disobedience of a lawful order in transacting with First Oil which had no fuel inland in violation of the CMED board resolution, which stipulated that bulk fuel be purchased from a company that had the fuel in Zimbabwe.”
The tribunal, in arriving at the decision, said aggravation in the case far outweighed the mitigation proffered by Manjengwa during the hearing.
“In particular, the financial prejudice resulting from the respondent’s actions was so substantial as to cripple the very department that he was in charge of, besides having a very serious financial impact on the whole company,” the tribunal wrote.
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“The respondent’s brazen defiance of the board resolution was directly responsible for the ensuing loss of the funds, and his whole conduct throughout the transaction smacked of recklessness.”
The tribunal further noted that the botched fuel deal resulted in the retrenchment of 33 employees from the CMED fuels department.
Manjengwa, in mitigation, claimed the transaction was the first of its kind and had been done in haste and he was guided by the managing director (Davison Mhaka) and the CMED board in sealing the deal.
Mhaka has been placed on remand on charges of obstructing justice by trying to conceal evidence to the prosecuting authorities about the botched deal.
