The government has been dragged to court for contempt by a procurement specialist, who alleges that state officials have wilfully ignored Labour Court and High Court orders requiring them to pay him US$154 784 in arrears of remuneration.
Leonard Karemba, a former procurement specialist with the Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme (SIRP) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, won a labour dispute against his employer at the Labour Court, which subsequently issued an order for his payment.
Labour Court judge, Justice Makamure, on November 20, 2025 granted an application for quantification of arrears of remuneration, ordering the minister and permanent secretary of the ministry, as well as the chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC), to pay Karemba a net amount of US$154 784 covering the period from April 12,2021 to January 9, 2025.
Karemba had initially sued the minister, his permanent secretary, the chairperson and secretary of the PSC, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad), which financed SIRP, and the Attorney-General as respondents.
The SIRP project, jointly funded by the government and Ifadthrough a grant and loan from Opec, closed operations on 31 December 2024.
When the respondents failed to pay, Karemba registered the Labour Court order with the High Court on 28 January 2026 under case number HC/H/6431/25. Justice Chirawu Mugamba ordered that the Labour Court judgment be registered as an order of the High Court.
According to court papers, the Labour Court order was served on the respondents on 20 June 2025, and the High Court order on January 30, 2026, through Karemba's legal practitioners.
Karemba submitted that the respondents had "refused, failed or neglected to pay him or cause payment to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to date", despite having authority under the State Liabilities Act to do so.
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He also alleged that the Attorney-General's office wrote an unclear letter that did not commit to payment, but instead indicated an intention to unduly delay payment without justification.
Through his legal practitioners, Karemba wrote a follow-up letter on March 4, 2026, which he said had received no response. The matter stems from disciplinary proceedings against Karemba.
On April 12, 2021—not 2025, as initially stated in court papers—Karemba was charged with misconduct for allegedly soliciting inflated quotations above prevailing market prices and sourcing from uncompetitive and non-reputable companies.
A disciplinary hearing found Karemba guilty and discharged him from service, effective May 8, 2023.
However, the determination stipulated that he be paid remuneration for the period from July 12, 2021 to May 8, 2023, the duration of his extended suspension.
Karemba appealed against his dismissal to the Labour Court (case number LCH 205/25), and the ministry was directed to comply with the appeal ruling.
Karemba argued that the respondents had "cultivated a culture of willful disobedience of the Court order and the State Liabilities Act" and were bent on frustrating the clear terms of the court orders.
He is now seeking a punitive costs order on the higher scale of legal practitioner and client, as well as personal committal of the respondents to prison for contemptuous behaviour, which he argues is "obviously outside their lawful mandates as public officials".
