SADC Chairman and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is due in Gaborone this week to crack the whip on some senior management at the regional block’s headquarters in Gaborone, Sunday Standard can reveal.
Indications are that heads are likely to roll when Mugabe addresses allegations of abuse of office by some senior managers at the SADC secretariat.
It is understood that SADC instituted investigations against some junior staff members at SADC and instructed the top management to implement its recommendations but the management “failed or neglected to act.” Mugabe is due in Gaborone on Tuesday to establish why recommendations by SADC political leadership were not enforced or implemented. On Friday SADC spokesperson Dr Charles Mubita would not respond to a Sunday Standardquestionnaire claiming that certain procedures had not been followed.
Information reaching this publication indicates that SADC poltical leadership engaged consultants to investigate allegations of maladministration at the secretariat following complaints by junior staff against senior management. After the investigations were completed and assesed by members states, recommendations were made and the management at secretariat was instructed to dismiss one of the staff membes.
The secretriat, however, shelved the recommerndation by member states and conducted its own investigation which absolved the staff member in question of any wrong doing. The staff at the secretariat is said to be unhappy as it believes that the top managment is abusing its powers. The secretariat is also accused of taking unletral decesions and funds some projects without the blessings of the SADC political leadership. It is understood that some members states are planning to pass a motion of no confidence against some senior SADC officials.
There are also allegations that some top managemt officials are not committed to interests of SADC but are biased towards the interests of The East African Community (EAC). There are also fears that the issue is likely to pit member states which double as mebers of SADC and The East African Community (EAC) against those that only belong to the SADC region.
