Source: Red Cross bosses go after ‘hardliners’ –Newsday Zimbabwe
THE Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) has summoned some of its members for disciplinary hearings for allegedly violating the volunteer organisation’s code of conduct in a move aimed at suppressing dissent.
Lately, the humanitarian organisation, boasting nearly 20 000 volunteers across the country, has witnessed a number of corporate governance breaches.
A new ZRCS board led by David Chaliyanika was elected in December last year in Kariba during the organisation’s general assembly.
Other members of the new board include Emmaculate Chuma (vice-president), Bennard Sharara (vice-president) and Paradzayi Dakwa (honorary treasurer).
Chaliyanika took over from Edson Mlambo, who had served his two terms.
However, before the December general assembly, some ZCRS members had dragged the association to the High Court seeking to stop the elections citing a number of irregularities.
In their court application, they flagged massive anomalies which they said were in conflict with the organisation’s constitution.
The disgruntled members wanted anomalies discovered during the branch, district and provincial elections be to addressed before elections were held.
The court, however, advised them to seek redress through a normal court application and allowed the general assembly and elections to go ahead.
However, ZRCS management in a move viewed as an attempt to silence dissenting voices has summoned the members who dragged it to court over the elections.
“I write to advise you that the following members took the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society to court on December 16, 2024,” wrote ZRCS secretary-general Elias Hwenga in a letter dated January 29, 2024, addressed to ZRCS provincial managers.
“Together with other members, they filed an urgent chamber application in which they sought to stop the 2024 general assembly that was to be held in Kariba on December 21, 2024.
“While every person has the right to approach the court, the named individual violated the code of conduct by failing to exhaust internal remedies provided in the volunteer code of conduct.”
Hwenga said by doing so, the members violated the provisions of the volunteer’s code of conduct Group C Gross Offences Paragraph 10.3.5.
He instructed the provincial managers to institute committees to investigate the allegations in terms of the volunteer’s code of conduct.
Hwenga confirmed the authenticity of the letter in which he summoned ZRCS officials to a disciplinary hearing.
One of the ZRCS members confirmed having been summoned to the hearing.
“Yes, I received a letter to attend the disciplinary hearing, but it’s a foregone decision,” said the member.
This is not the first time Hwenga has swooped on workers deemed to be hardliners.
In 2020, Hwenga was arraigned before the courts facing charges of obstructing or defeating the course of justice after he allegedly fired subordinates who had exposed corruption within the ZRCS to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.
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