The lawyers representing the suspended employees made the request for a High Court Judge to preside over the hearings fearing that the outcome of the hearing might be biased if they were presided over by council representatives.
The senior employees were suspended over allegations of corruptly awarding a tender to Shitazburg Enterprises to supply water pipes to the local authority.
The company, however, failed to supply the water pipes after the council had already paid $330 000 to the company. The three senior employees, James Makumbe (Chief Buyer), Ragis Dapi (Committee Officer)and John Maugara (Senior Engineer) were suspended on allegations of misinforming the city council about Shitazburg Enterprises’ of its capacity and honour to supply the council with the water pipes.