Labour office accused of nepotism

the selection of 100 prospective employees for the ministry of health, according to irate job seekers.

The government employs the bulk of its workers through recruitment exercises conducted by labour and Public Service Commission offices, in a bid to stamp out unfair employment conditions. Unscrupulous labour employment officers are reportedly abusing the trust bestowed upon them by government.

Last week the labor officers unfairly selected job seekers for interviews in connection with job prospects at the Marondera General Hospital. We were told that priority would be given to people who registered for jobs with the labor office between 1999 and 2003. To our surprise, prospective job seekers who registered as recent as yesterday, paid US$40 bribes to labour officers and got selected for the interviews, said Joyline Marume, who has been visiting the labour offices since 2008 in vain.

According to one job seeker who benefited from the scam, after bribing the officers, he was registered as if he joined the waiting list in 1999. This qualified him for any available job interview. Part of the bribe is given to members of the interviewing panel at organisations seeking workers.

In the ministry of health case, the General Hospital intends to employ 33 general hands. All have to come through the ministry of labour offices, but of the 100 selected by the labour office, only 16 will be recruited. Officials at the General Hospital are reported to have short listed 17 relatives for the vacancies.

Hundreds of job seekers throng the labor offices everyday, but have become restless as corruption has rocked the government employment department.

Our recruitment is transparent and according to set out government procedure. We are not corrupt and give priority to those who registered with us earlier. The ministrys service charter calls for fair employment and equal job opportunities for job seekers, claimed an employment officer who said he was not authorized to speak to the media.