No respite for fired passport officers

The Labour Court has upheld the dismissal of two passport processing officers after finding that their negligent handling of passport applications enabled two Cameroonian nationals to fraudulently obtain Zimbabwean passports.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Clever Tsikwa, the court dismissed with costs an appeal filed by Marian Roman and Natasha Maureen Munemo against the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, ruling that the disciplinary authority had properly found them guilty of improper, negligent and inefficient performance of duty.

"Having considered that there has not been proof that the disciplinary authority grossly misdirected itself in convicting the appellants and that imposition of penalty is sole discretion of the employer and that dismissal is the appropriate penalty if the misconduct goes to the root of the employment relationship, the Court finds no legal basis to interfere with the penalty imposed," Justice Tsikwa ruled.

Roman, who worked as a passport processing officer responsible for enrolling applicants, was dismissed after processing the application of Christiana Mhereyenyoka, who was later found to be a Cameroonian national.

The disciplinary authority concluded that Roman failed to properly verify discrepancies between the applicant's residential addresses on the passport application form and those recorded in the computer system. The oversight resulted in the issuance of a Zimbabwean passport to a foreign national who was not entitled to one.

Roman challenged both her conviction and dismissal, arguing that she had acted in accordance with existing workplace practices and that there were no written standard operating procedures requiring her to conduct further verification.

Justice Tsikwa rejected the argument, holding that officers responsible for processing passports occupy security-sensitive positions that require a high degree of vigilance.

"A processing officer applying her mind to the duty at hand and its sensitivity would have halted the process and alerted authorities of her suspicion," the judge said.

The court found that Roman should have investigated further after identifying conflicting residential addresses and should have become suspicious when the applicant experienced difficulty communicating in Shona.

Rejecting her contention that no written procedures required her to conduct additional checks, Justice Tsikwa ruled that such responsibilities were inherent in her role.

"That was implied in her duty as an Enroller or Verifier. She had a duty to verify the addresses," he said.

Munemo, who worked at the Central Registry in the Passport Section, was dismissed after issuing a blank passport application form through a cleaner acting as an intermediary instead of handing it directly to the applicant.

The form was subsequently used by another Cameroonian national, Maini Yvette, who also fraudulently obtained a Zimbabwean passport.

Like Roman, Munemo argued that issuing passport application forms through cleaners had become common practice within the department and that the disciplinary authority had failed to properly consider mitigating factors before dismissing her.

The Labour Court dismissed those arguments, ruling that an unlawful workplace practice could not justify negligent conduct.

"I am persuaded by submissions by counsel for the respondents that the fact that it was common practice does not make it lawful," Justice Tsikwa said.

The court found that Munemo was aware that passport applicants were ordinarily required to collect application forms in person except under limited circumstances but failed to establish whether any exemption applied before releasing the form through a cleaner.

Justice Tsikwa concluded that the disciplinary authority had not misdirected itself in finding both officers guilty and that dismissal was an appropriate sanction because their misconduct struck at the heart of the trust required in the administration of Zimbabwe's passport system.