The High Court has trashed an application by former Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) chief executive officer (CEO), Nyasha Chizu, challenging his dismissal.
High Court judge, Justice Owen Tagu, dismissed his application with costs for lacking merit.
Chizu was employed by PRAZ in 2012 and rose through the ranks to become the regulator’s CEO in August 2018.
On July 7, 2020, he was put on a forced 30-day leave.
This was repeated on two different occasions before he was fired on October 23 of the same year.
Chizu then sued his former employer, also citing the public service minister, Paul Mavima and Attorney General, Prince Machaya, as respondents.
He complained that he was unconstitutionally dismissed and wanted the termination to be declared null and void.
Tagu ruled that his arguments had no merit.
“The gist of the applicant is that he was not given the chance to make an address before he was dismissed.
“If that is so, he should have cited the Administrative Justice Act. That is where this cause of action lies.
“I therefore uphold the first respondent’s (PRAZ) first point in limine (as a preliminary matter).
“The first respondent’s right to have terminated the applicant’s contract of employment on notice was created by common law and not by statute. The Labour Act simply regulated the existence of common law right, otherwise conferred on the first respondent by common law.”
“I agree with the first respondent that the practical import of the applicant’s failure to do so, is that the relief sought is incompetent and ineffective as it does not strike at the source of the alleged unconstitutional infringement.
“I will therefore uphold the first respondent’s third point in limine,” said the judge.