Top Court Slams UZ in US$323,000 Labour Battle

The Constitutional Court has dealt a major blow to the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) after striking down its appeal in a long-running labour wrangle with former bursar Vengai Mugabe, ruling that previous court proceedings were “a nullity in every sense.”

In a judgment delivered by Justice Anne-Mary Gowora, the court found that both the Labour Court and the Supreme Court had acted outside their jurisdiction.

“It has been made clear that there must be compliance with statutory requirements in order for the court to assert jurisdiction over matters,” said Justice Gowora. 

“The lack of adherence to these procedural safeguards rendered the previous judgments ineffective and void.”

Mugabe, who served as UZ bursar from July 2017 to June 2021, was dismissed after a fallout with university management. 

A labour officer later ordered UZ to pay him US$323,036 for unfair dismissal, a ruling the institution repeatedly contested without success.

According to NewZimbabwe, Mugabe’s lawyer Tawanda Zhuwarara argued that the earlier decisions “violated fundamental rights enshrined in sections 56 and 71 of the Constitution,” while UZ’s counsel, G. Madzoka, dismissed the Constitutional Court application as “a disguised appeal.”

Justice Rita Makarau condemned the lower courts’ “unacceptable failure” to address key procedural issues, leading the top court to declare all prior rulings “void and irregular.”