Marvo judicial manager's role must be reviewed

Since the beginning of companies mass closures over a decade ago, with Bulawayo being the hardest hit by closures and relocations. The Judicial managers have been beneficiaries of the crisis. In most if not all cases the judicial managers have been used by corrupt company shareholders and management as a shield to protect them from paying creditors particularly the employees.

There are very few companies if any that have been successfully resuscitated by the judicial managers since  2008.

In the case of Marvo Stationery, the shareholders and management looted millions of US Dollars since the introduction of multi currencies. The shareholders which include one of  Delta's regional directors Mr M Valela the majority shareholder made sure they looted funds from the company using all manner of tricks including through shelf companies. To make matters worse they went and borrowed US$750 000 and a further $150 000 from CABS which was meant for recapitalization but those funds were diverted to individuals and was also made to import finished products from South Africa through Browns Stationery.

The workers were not getting paid, we went to court won the case and when the master of High Court was about to act the management went and brought in Chrispen Mwete as the judicial manager, and the process was abandoned much to the workers detriment. The Judicial manager when he came in, the company was working, but as soon as he came in he wrote letters to all workers informing them to go on unpaid leave for two weeks while he runs around to look for investors, and those two weeks have since became five years from 20 August 2014, his own contract at Marvo was suppose to be 12 months.

There is a growing need for government to either completely do away with judicial managers or at least reconstitute the framework. They are easily manipulated by the management and shareholders, and they are selfish enough to ignore the plight of thousands of workers. The Master of High Court too is not helping matters, and the suspicion is that the court officials are bribed to delay court processes against their cashcows. Marvo Stationery case has spent four years now but still no court date yet, workers are dying one by one without receiving their back dated salaries.

The Judicial manager is not making any meaningful effort to help the poor workers. It is clear that if this country had a proper judicial system, Marvo Stationery could be running at full capacity today. Clearly the law is meant to protect the rich and punish the poor citizens.

Chrispen Mwete has never successfully resuscitated any company, and I doubt very much if he is even aware of what he has to do, in fact he uses his ZANU-PF connections to continue operating as a judicial manager , as well as protecting most of this corrupt company shareholders and management at the expense of workers.

If the government is sincere about resuscitating industry, then there must be a law that holds company shareholders and management responsible for their actions and the judicial managers must not be used to protect corrupt people, because in most cases money will be there in the hands of shareholders and the just use judicial managers to protect themselves and bribe the Master of High Court to prevent any lawsuits against themselves.

The workers have been patient enough, but the judicial manager is not sincere. The Marvo workers are owed thousands of dollars. These issues must be looked at as soon as possible.

Mbonisi Gumbo is a Marvo employee writing in his personal capacity.