NetOne chief executive officer Lazarus Muchenje remains
suspended despite the relief order granted by the High Court on Tuesday to
interdict the board from proceeding with a disciplinary hearing, the company
has said.
The mobile phone operator wrote a letter to Mr Muchenje
through its lawyers on Thursday advising that the High Court order only blocked
the board from pursuing a disciplinary hearing, but he remains suspended.
“We have this morning (Thursday) been advised by our client
that your client has presented himself at its office with a copy of the court
order and it appears that he wishes to resume his duties as the chief executive
officer,” NetOne lawyers C. Kahuni and Attorneys wrote.
“For a start, the final part of court order requires that
the applicant’s (Mr Muchenje) legal practitioners’ serve the court order on
either ourselves or our client.
“Further, your client well knows that he was suspended . .
. on the 20th of February 2020 and the suspension still stands. The order
handed to our client clearly states that the interim relief is that …
respondents are interdicted from pursuing and disciplinary proceedings.
“Kindly advise your client to vacate our client’s premises
as he is contravening the express condition of his suspension which requires
that he shall not be allowed to access any NetOne’s office or communicate with
any NetOne’s employees.”
Contacted for a comment, Mr Innocent Chingarande — Mr
Muchenje’s legal representative — said it was untrue that his client had
visited NetOne with the intention of resuming his duties as the chief
executive.
“Our client has never set foot at NetOne (Private) Limited
premises today (Thursday) as alleged in the letter by C. Kuhuni and Associates,
which is dated 12th March 2020,” said Mr Chingarande.
Mr Muchenje was suspended on February 20 this year for
alleged incompetence and negligence.
The company’s acting chief finance officer, Mr Tinashe
Severa, was similarly affected.
However, Mr Muchenje approached the court seeking an order
to nullify the board resolution to suspend him, arguing that the board meeting
was not properly constituted.
He cited acting board chairperson Ms Susan Mutangadura and
other board members — Messrs Winston Makamure, Ranganai Mavhunga, Paradzai
Chakona and Dr Douglas Mamvura — as respondents.
But, despite being appointed on the NetOne board last year,
Dr Mamvura was never invited for the meetings.
The board argues that the parent Ministry of Information
Communication Technology and Courier Services never advised them of his
appointment.
Some of the allegations levelled against Mr Muchenje
include irregular procurement of fuel, unauthorised purchase of furniture and
household goods, unauthorised allocation of company vehicles, withdrawal of
fuel at the company’s depots, awarding himself benefits without board approval
and failure to adhere to procedures.
The matter was heard before Justice Chirawu-Mugomba, who
ruled in favour of Mr Muchenje, barring the board from conducting adisciplinary
hearing. NetOne had appointed Retired Justice Moses Chinhengo to preside over
the disciplinary hearing.
The parastatal, which was formed in 1996 as the first
cellular network in Zimbabwe, is the country’s second-largest mobile phone
operator with about three million subscribers.
Insiders believe the company’s falling revenue in the first
two months of the year can be linked to the current boardroom squabbles, which
began in January.
The infighting resulted in the resignation of board
chairperson Mr James Mutizwa and two other board members.
In 2019, revenues jumped from $15 million to a remarkable
$107 million in December.
However, as boardroom fights deepened, revenues for January
declined by 6 percent to $102 million from $107 million.
In February, revenue further declined by 2 percent. It is
believed that the board and executive are expending a lot of effort and
resources on the ongoing fights.
About nine audit reports have been produced over a
five-month period from September 2019. Sunday Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment