Labour Court judge, Justice Euna Makamure, issued a default judgment on October 19 this year, ordering Air Zimbabwe to reinstate former strategy and economic manager, Nobert Machingauta to his position or negotiate his exit package if his services are no longer required at the parastatal. A default judgement was filed after the national airline failed to file its papers or send a lawyer to represent it at the hearing despite being properly served.
Machingauta was suspended in January 2014 on allegations of authorising mega payments to a local insurance firm, Navistar Insurance, through an insurance scam that forensic auditors BCA claimed caused the national airline to lose $11 million. He was dismissed after a disciplinary hearing was conducted sometime in February 2014 but he contested the committee’s ruling and appealed to the Labour Court.
In her ruling, Justice Makamure said the dismissal was null and void and Machingauta should be reinstated. AirZim was further ordered to pay the costs of the suit on an attorney and client scale. The ruling becomes the second major loss for the airline after earlier this year the courts also ordered the reinstatement of dismissed company secretary and acting managing director, Grace Pfumbidzayi.
More: NewsDay
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