Tollgate cashier dismissed for theft

A tollgate cashier with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has been dismissed for allegedly aiding theft and receiving bribes. Shaun Kutsanzira was allegedly found on January 2, 2011 with two used toll tickets for haulage trucks worth US$5 each in the ticket book he was using.

It was alleged that Kutsanzira had been given the two tickets by a truck driver.

As a result, he was charged for extortion, embezzlement and colluding with clients to undervalue or wrongly classify goods, thereby causing revenue loss.

Kutsanzira was found guilty of the charges and his appeal to the Appeals committee was dismissed and the decision of the grievances and disciplinary committee (GDC) upheld.

He then appealed to the Labour Court arguing that he was not given a chance to defend himself.

Kutsanzira argued that on December 26, 2010 he was not at work as alleged, and that the affidavit from a witness that he brought was not considered.

Zimra on the other hand responded saying that the Appeals committee was just there to review the decision of the GDC.

It submitted that Kutsanzira was given an opportunity to file his grounds of appeal and had told the GDC that the ticket was used on December 25, 2010.

Zimra said the affidavit that was produced by Kutsanzira was discredited.

Labour Court president Ms Betty Chidziva noted that it was Kutsanzira's evidence that tickets left in the vicinity of the tollgate area were picked up and destroyed.

Said Ms Chidziva: "He picked the tickets but never destroyed them even though the procedure was that the tickets should be destroyed.

"If the driver had thrown them away, he should have left the field assistant to pick them and destroy them."

Kutsanzira had told the committee that he had kept the tickets just in case the driver would come back for them.

Ms Chidziva questioned why the driver would come back to Kutsanzira to claim tickets that he had thrown away.

"Kutsanzira would have summoned police to assist him if he had problems with the driver," said Ms Chidziva.

"Furthermore, why would the driver claim tickets that he had thrown away?

"All this shows that he was not being honest."

In the circumstances, Ms Chidziva found no merit in Kutsanzira's appeal.

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