News / National
Civil servants swindled
31 Aug 2012 at 03:18hrs | Views
THOUSANDS of civil servants in the country were left in the lurch when an organisation that initiated a nationwide grocery scheme allegedly swindled them of their hard earned money.
Corporate Stationers based in Avondale, Harare, has been deducting $10 from each civil servant who joined the scheme from September last year, on the pretext that they would deliver 20kgs of rice, 20 litres of cooking oil, 20kgs of sugar, 5kgs of sugar beans and 24 bars of washing soap after every three months.
The organisation is said to be in partnership with some parastatals.
Corporate Stationers, which is still deducting money from the Government workers, only managed to give them 20kgs of rice six months after the commencement of the scheme.
Civil servants, a majority of them teachers who spoke to Chronicle, expressed concern over the grocery scheme, saying they were now doubting the credibility of the organisation.
Mr Mandlenkosi Moyo, a teacher in Umguza District, said the organisation approached school heads and provided application forms for interested civil servants.
"We were told about the scheme in September last year by our school head who also joined the scheme. The organisation actually approached every school in my district and most teachers joined.
The organisation promised to deliver the groceries at our doorsteps after every three months.
"We were made to fill in application forms, which were then sent to Harare for processing and the organisation started deducting $10 from our salaries every month," said Mr Moyo.
He said they did not receive anything from the organisation for six months until they started putting pressure.
"We thought it was genuine because the organisation was aligned to a parastatal. We then realised that we had been duped when we went for six months without receiving the groceries.
"We then received 20kgs of rice after putting a lot of pressure on them but the rice was not delivered at our doorsteps as promised.
"They said some civil servants were defaulting which was making it difficult for them to deliver the food hampers. We then asked them to at least honour their promise to non-defaulters but nothing came and the deductions continued," said Mr Moyo.
Another victim, Mr Mfazo Mpunzi, said it was unfortunate that the organisation had decided to fleece them despite their low income.
"Civil servants are already earning peanuts and most of us are drowning in debt.
"We thought this company was authentic as it claimed to be in partnership with some reputable companies yet it had just decided to use us for their own interests.
"Every time we try to contact them they are nowhere to be found and they are still taking our money," said Mr Mpunzi.
Mr Bernard Dube, also a teacher, said they had given up on getting the groceries but wanted their money back from the organisation.
"Those people are criminals. They pretended to be concerned about the welfare of civil servants but instead made our situations worse.
"We have been sacrificing $10 every month thinking it would make our lives better, unaware that those people had just come to make money through us".
The president of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Mrs Tendai Chikowore, said the association did not enter into an agreement with the organisation.
She advised the affected teachers to approach the association and map the way forward.
"I was told about the scheme but Zimta did not enter into any agreement with the organisation and we never talked about such a scheme at any Zimta forum. Those people did not come through our offices.
"However, I would like to encourage all affected Zimta members to approach our offices and bring their payslips so that we look into the issue. Zimta does not condone any false schemes where our members are taken for granted," said Mrs Chikowore.
An official from Corporate Stationers said they were in the process of distributing the groceries.
"We are in the middle of distributing the groceries right now but we were delayed.
"We have six trucks which are running around the country right now to distribute the food stuffs through all GMB depots.
"However, we are not giving out the groceries to all the civil servants who joined because about 3 000 civil servants ceased deductions. The decision on who to give the food depends on us because we are financing the programme," he said.
The official then told this reporter to send questions in writing to an e-mail address which turned out to be false.
He said the organisation could not respond to demands made through the media because they were in business.
Corporate Stationers based in Avondale, Harare, has been deducting $10 from each civil servant who joined the scheme from September last year, on the pretext that they would deliver 20kgs of rice, 20 litres of cooking oil, 20kgs of sugar, 5kgs of sugar beans and 24 bars of washing soap after every three months.
The organisation is said to be in partnership with some parastatals.
Corporate Stationers, which is still deducting money from the Government workers, only managed to give them 20kgs of rice six months after the commencement of the scheme.
Civil servants, a majority of them teachers who spoke to Chronicle, expressed concern over the grocery scheme, saying they were now doubting the credibility of the organisation.
Mr Mandlenkosi Moyo, a teacher in Umguza District, said the organisation approached school heads and provided application forms for interested civil servants.
"We were told about the scheme in September last year by our school head who also joined the scheme. The organisation actually approached every school in my district and most teachers joined.
The organisation promised to deliver the groceries at our doorsteps after every three months.
"We were made to fill in application forms, which were then sent to Harare for processing and the organisation started deducting $10 from our salaries every month," said Mr Moyo.
He said they did not receive anything from the organisation for six months until they started putting pressure.
"We thought it was genuine because the organisation was aligned to a parastatal. We then realised that we had been duped when we went for six months without receiving the groceries.
"We then received 20kgs of rice after putting a lot of pressure on them but the rice was not delivered at our doorsteps as promised.
"They said some civil servants were defaulting which was making it difficult for them to deliver the food hampers. We then asked them to at least honour their promise to non-defaulters but nothing came and the deductions continued," said Mr Moyo.
Another victim, Mr Mfazo Mpunzi, said it was unfortunate that the organisation had decided to fleece them despite their low income.
"Civil servants are already earning peanuts and most of us are drowning in debt.
"Every time we try to contact them they are nowhere to be found and they are still taking our money," said Mr Mpunzi.
Mr Bernard Dube, also a teacher, said they had given up on getting the groceries but wanted their money back from the organisation.
"Those people are criminals. They pretended to be concerned about the welfare of civil servants but instead made our situations worse.
"We have been sacrificing $10 every month thinking it would make our lives better, unaware that those people had just come to make money through us".
The president of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Mrs Tendai Chikowore, said the association did not enter into an agreement with the organisation.
She advised the affected teachers to approach the association and map the way forward.
"I was told about the scheme but Zimta did not enter into any agreement with the organisation and we never talked about such a scheme at any Zimta forum. Those people did not come through our offices.
"However, I would like to encourage all affected Zimta members to approach our offices and bring their payslips so that we look into the issue. Zimta does not condone any false schemes where our members are taken for granted," said Mrs Chikowore.
An official from Corporate Stationers said they were in the process of distributing the groceries.
"We are in the middle of distributing the groceries right now but we were delayed.
"We have six trucks which are running around the country right now to distribute the food stuffs through all GMB depots.
"However, we are not giving out the groceries to all the civil servants who joined because about 3 000 civil servants ceased deductions. The decision on who to give the food depends on us because we are financing the programme," he said.
The official then told this reporter to send questions in writing to an e-mail address which turned out to be false.
He said the organisation could not respond to demands made through the media because they were in business.
Source - chronicle
