Sources accuse General Manager Walter Nemasasi and another senior manager (who cannot be named as we have been unable to contact him for his comments) of demanding bribes ranging from $100 from job seekers, particularly locals, and filling the company with their relatives and friends.
A former employee, Evans Chirwa, confessed to The Zimbabwean that he was part of the bribery syndicate, collecting money from aspiring employees, most of whom were subsequently employed as underground miners and general workers, and surrendering it to the senior manager.
“I fell out of favour with him and was fired on flimsy grounds when I indicated to that I did not want to continue as part of his syndicate. I still have the sms messages we exchanged,” said the former employee originally from Harare, who also admitted that he had been given the job because he was a relative of the manager.
“Corruption is rampant at Unki. Whenever a person comes looking for a job, he is asked what he would do for the managers if he gets it, a subtle way of demanding a bribe. There are so many people who would testify, and what worries us is that top management is not doing anything about this,” added Chirwa. Canaan Poshai, who was employed by Unki as a Logistics Assistant, accused the Unki management of victimising employees who were outspoken.
“I was fired merely because I had queried the recruitment process for a Grader Operator, a position I was interested in but for which they had apparently reserved for someone (name supplied) who is related to a top politician,” Poshai said.
Nemasasi acknowledged that locals and former employees had complained about corruption. “I have a whole booklet of the complaints that I have given to the Midlands Governor (Jason Machaya) and given the complexity of the matter, it requires a lot of time to talk about this,” Nemasasi told The Zimbabwean.
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