The managers have been forced to resign, while others are
being denied employment benefits they had been enjoying before Nenzou was
nabbed by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc), NewsDay can reveal.
Nenzou was arrested for criminal abuse of office in 2020
after he reportedly awarded a German company a tender to supply a sawmill
without following the tender-awarding process.
Several Allied Timbers managers were then picked up by Zacc
for questioning with regards to the matter.
“Since then, I, together with other senior managers who
testified in the case, have been suffering from victimisation,” one of the
managers who refused to be named for fear of further victimisation said.
“Some of the employment benefits we were enjoying before
Zacc started the investigation were withdrawn after we had testified in the
case. We have been subjected to various forms of abuse which include internal
disciplinary hearings on baseless accusations.”
Contacted for comment, Nenzou said: “I am not aware of any
benefits that were withdrawn from any manager, either by my instruction or by
the company. Therefore, I would not comment on the victimisation claims.”
The managers said several calls made to Zacc to intervene
have been in vain.
“I have sent several messages to Zacc asking for its
intervention, but to no avail. We really feel that the institution should
intervene because if I had a choice, I would not have gone to testify against
the boss knowing the consequences.”
Zacc spokesperson Thandiwe Mlobane said she was in a
meeting.
Pressure has been piling on government to expedite crafting
and enactment of a law that protects whistle-blowers and witnesses who play a
critical role in exposing graft. Newsday
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