National Social Security Authority (NSSA) acting chief executive officer (CEO) Charles Shava appeared in court Friday on allegations of unprocedurally awarding the four doctors employed by the authority allowances that had already been turned down by the board.
Shava appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court charged with fraud.
He was not asked to plead when he appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje, who granted him $500 000 bail.
It is the State’s case that on October 18 last year, the NSSA human resources committee held a meeting where Shava tabled a proposal to increase remuneration for NSSA doctors through a string of allowances.
On his proposal, Shava recommended that NSSA medical doctors be awarded 20 percent call allowances, 25 percent risk medical allowance, 50 percent non-practicing allowance and 20 percent special skills retention allowance.
The court heard that on November 8, NSSA held a full board meeting and the chairperson of the human resources committee tabled Shava’s proposal to review the conditions of service for NSSA doctors.
The NSSA board, according to the State, approved the retention allowance but turned down the three other proposed allowances.
The board resolved that its medical doctors be paid a retention allowance, and management was to provide the retention amounts to the human resources, public relations and marketing committee. The HR committee was to consult the finance committee on the proposed amounts before sharing information with the board.
On December 20, Shava allegedly generated a memorandum addressed to the chairperson of the human resources committee and fraudulently added the allowances that had been turned down by the board.
It is also alleged that on November 8, Shava, with intent to deceive acting director human resources, allegedly altered the wording of the board resolution to read: “The HR committee was to consult the finance committee on the proposed amounts before implementation.”
According to the State, the original board resolution reads: “The HR committee was to consult the finance committee on the proposed amounts before sharing with the board.”
Shava allegedly instructed the acting director human resources to effect payment of allowances for the four doctors.
The court heard that on February 14 this year, Tambudzai Jongwe, the acting director human resources wrote an email to Shava seeking further clarification on why he instructed her to pay the medical doctors without the approval of the NSSA finance committee and the board.
On the same day, Shava allegedly sent an email to Ms Jongwe, further instructing her to proceed and pay the allowances of his fellow doctors with effect from January 1, 2023.
It is said that he allegedly justified his actions to Jongwe, saying her concerns had been fully addressed by the full board.
Acting upon the misrepresentation, Ms Jongwe allegedly effected the payments of the four doctors’ allowances totalling $12 246 571,48. – The Herald
