MASVINGO Municipality workers have applied to the High Court for a writ of execution to allow them to attach property over a US$3,5 million arbitration award the city is failing to pay them.
Report by Christopher Mahove
This follows the registration of the award by the High Court on October 17 2012, after it was handed down by an arbitrator, one E Machekeche on March 3 2011. Rodgers Matsikidze of Matsikidze&Mucheche who is representing the workers told The Standard that the city was reluctant to pay the award, which was for salary and benefit shortfalls from October 2008 to February 2011.
The city is supposed to pay a total of US$3 571 295.
“They (Masvingo Municipality) are refusing to own up and we will move to attach property anytime from now because the money is from a long time ago,” said Matsikidze. “We have already applied for a writ of execution and once it is granted, and if they have not paid, we will attach the property.”
Matsikidze said workers would initially attach movable property such as cars, graders, tractors, fire tenders and furniture. They would also attach buildings if the money is not enough to pay the workers. The city council had filed an appeal against the quantification of the award which was handed down by another arbitrator in December 2010.
They had also sought to halt the quantification of the award based on their appeal against the judgment. They claimed it was time wasting to quantify an award which was being appealed against.
An attachment of the municipal property would paralyse operations of the local authority, which is already failing to deliver quality service to residents due to financial constraints. The city was owed more than $7 million by the government alone.
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Masvingo mayor Alderman Femius Chakabuda, however, professed ignorance on the matter, saying council had never been to any court over salary issues with workers.
“Not that I have heard of, I am hearing it from you for the first time. We have never been to the High Court,” he said.
However, documents in our possession show that the arbitral award was registered in the High Court under case number HC 4011/11.
