Defrauded civil servants meet Mangudya
CIVIL servants have met Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya to iron out problems that have emanated from cases where some loan sharks are allegedly deducting money from their salaries through the Salary Services Bureau (SSB)’s stop order system purpotedly to service non-existent loans.
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Dr Takavafira Zhou said although he could not divulge the outcome of the meeting, he was positive that what was agreed in the meeting will solve the problem.
“We met Dr Mangudya and indications are that something will be done. It was a positive meeting on the basis of regulations that guide interests that accrue on unpaid loans.
“Of course details of our discussions are not for public consumption but what I can tell you is that the meeting was encouraging,” he said.
Added Dr Zhou, “The impression we got is that he (Dr Mangudya) needs to consult with powers above him since the matter was dealt with by the courts.”
Earlier this month civil servants wrote to President Mugabe seeking his intervention on the matter and copied the letter to Dr Mangudya. One of the companies fingered in the alleged scam is the now liquidated McDowells Pvt Ltd owned by Mr Member Chipamba. The High Court, upon liquidating the company appointed a provisional liquidator who has been collecting the company’s debts from creditors, among them civil servants who had taken loans.
However, Mr Zhou said, the provisional liquidator was going ahead to deduct money from some Government workers who had not taken any loans and some who had finished paying off their loans.
He added that some civil servants were being left with as little as $0,76 after deductions, something he said was against SSB’s regulations on stop order deductions.
“The rule states that the initial amount you borrow cannot accrue interest that is more than that amount and we are pursuing that argument in our fight. You also have a situation where some of our members are taking home $0,76 every month after deductions, which is against SSB rules on stop order deductions.
“The rules state that one can’t take more than 10 percent of someone’s salary via the stop order system,” he said.
Dr Zhou added, “The High Court ruling was that the provisional liquidator engages people first to determine how much they owed but we are surprised that they’ve gone ahead to dock money without prior engagement.”
Initially the civil servants had approached the Civil Service Commission (CSC) for recourse, but were not happy with their employer’s response, Secretary of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Ngoni Masoka, said Government could not intervene on the case involving McDowells as the issue had been ruled on by the courts.
He asked the affected workers to engage the provisional liquidator who had been appointed by the High Court to recover debts on behalf of the liquidated McDowells. Some civil servants, mostly teachers, claim they have been made to pay monthly premiums to service loans from McDowells which they would not have taken. Those that took loans from the company claim that the loan shark continues to deduct money from their salaries despite them having finished paying off the loans.