NAMBoard CFO runs to Supreme Court
MBABANE – NAMBoard Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mzwandile Kunene has taken his bid to halt his disciplinary hearing to the Supreme Court.
The National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBoard) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bhekizwe Maziya, suspended the CFO, Kunene and subsequently preferred five charges against him.
A disciplinary process was instituted and Kunene’s two attempts to halt the hearing have failed so far. Industrial Court Judge Abande Dlamini dismissed his application to stay the disciplinary proceedings.
Last Thursday, High Court Judge John Magagula dismissed Kunene’s review application, due to lack of urgency and an incomplete record. The record of proceedings from the Industrial Court did not form part of the review application that the CFO had filed at the High Court.
Yesterday, Kunene filed a notice of appeal in the Supreme Court. He raised two grounds of appeal. The first one is that the High Court allegedly erred in law and in fact in finding that his application was not urgent.
The CFO submitted that the High Court erred in law and in fact by ignoring the applicable principle that he would be substantially prejudiced if the matter was not to be enrolled on an urgent basis in light of the imminent pending disciplinary hearing. “The court ought to have found that the matter was urgent and that the applicant (Kunene) could not be afforded substantial redress in due course and stood to suffer substantial prejudice in the event the matter was not enrolled as one of urgency,” argued Kunene.
He further stated that the High Court erred in law and in fact in holding that his application was defective for lack of a record of the Industrial Court, before determining the review application.
Incomplete
Kunene said the High Court ought to have found that the record of the Industrial Court was incomplete by virtue of the fact that the latter had not dispatched its written reasons. “The court a quo (trial court) ought to have granted a prayer that the Industrial Court should dispatch its written reasons for its ex tempore ruling before the matter could be decided on its merits. In the alternative, the court ought to have held that the lack of the record was dilatory and not fatal to the applicant’s application and as such could not be dismissed for lack of the record alone,” he added.
Kunene was suspended on January 16, in that after being served with his suspension letter on January 18, 2023, Kunene allegedly failed to return the company laptop. “In defiance of the written instruction and notwithstanding repeated verbal demands, you deliberately and intentionally caused to be removed the laptop from NAMBoard’s premises thereby committing the offence of gross insubordination,” alleged the CEO.
The second charge is of misconduct as he is alleged to have ‘failed and/ or refused to surrender the laptop and proceeded to obstruct the investigations that had been launched against him, by impermissibly causing to be deleted from the laptop information and/or details that were required for the course of the investigation, thereby committing the offence of obstructing the course of a workplace investigation. 2023 after he wrote a grievance notice against the CEO, Maziya, which was addressed to the latter and the Board of Directors, through which he made a number of accusations touching on the CEO. In the grievance notice, Kunene alleged that Maziya, who joined NAMBoard in April 2022, had employed bullying, intimidation and discriminatory antics against him.
When suspending Kunene, the CEO said the company management and Board had received credible information that implicated the CFO in acts of serious misconduct; and that investigations into these were currently underway.
“The nature of the allegations, as well as their potential consequences if found to be valid, require that you be interdicted from carrying out your duties of chief financial officer with immediate effect, pending the finalisation of the investigations and/or the finalisation of any disciplinary process that may be Gross insolence is the third charge, constituted should the allegations establish in which it is alleged that the CFO, on a prima facie case,” partly reads the diverse occasions, exhibited insolence suspension letter. and/or employed insolent language
Kunene was informed that during the towards the CEO. “Your conduct as course of his suspension, he would not forestated was calculated to undermine be permitted to enter NAMBoard premises the authority of the chief executive without written consent or directive officer in total breach of your duty of from the CEO; he also had to hand over respect and subordination towards your his access keys, all the organisation’s employer,” reads the charge. keys and other company items in his Statements such as ‘pathological lies possession, including a company laptop. which are nothing but a lie’, ‘save his
Further, the CFO was told to refrain own skin to win the Board’ and ‘he from contacting members of staff, misrepresented himself at a Board meeting’ particularly those in the finance, human were allegedly made by the CFO resources, IT and administration departments towards the CEO on or about November because these were identified as 13, 2022 through an email.
2023. potential witnesses. These words were allegedly used by
Almost three months after the suspension, Kunene with the intention to undermine Kunene was charged and notified the CEO’s authority over him of a disciplinary hearing that was to and thereby committed the said offence. commence on March 20, The fourth charge that Kunene
The first charge relates to gross insubordination faces is incompatibility.
Language SITEKI – Delegates from the Global Food Banking Network in the United States of America (USA) will be visiting the country next month to learn more about the programmes being implemented by Food Quest Eswatini.
Food Quest Eswatini founder Celani Matsenjwa said the visit would prioritise agricultural projects currently implemented by the organisation in their quest to fight hunger in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Matsenjwa, who was in Mexico City late last month, in the company of Financial Director, Kholeka Mdluli, said they were able to share ideas on how best they could secure funding for their operational strategy to boost the food bank in the country.
He said his organisation was in the process of getting certification from their mother body, to lure more partners and stakeholders as they embarked on a process to launch their operations countrywide. “The organisation is on the verge of aligning itself with the sustainable development goals as part of the government strategic plan in mitigating the issue of ending hunger and poverty eradication interventions. An open communication and engagement with the public on the food bank mission is part of our drive,” he said.
Matsenjwa highlighted that they had shown keen interest in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Eswatini youth empowerment programme. He added that they were also looking at offering internships to graduates on agricultural projects. “This will benefit those who studied agriculture and food nutrition. We are also inviting companies and government agencies, including individuals and NGOs, to join us as we are also looking to officially launch Food Quest Eswatini during the visit of the delegation from the USA,” Matsenjwa elaborated.
He further mentioned that his organisation would continue to collect food surplus from the food value chain to be distributed to needy communities. “We also promote the use of renewable energy through the solar backpack project aimed at assisting the less privileged primary school-going children in rural areas,” he said.