ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is pushing for the dismissal of Mvurwi Secondary School headmaster over alleged partisan conduct after he was nominated to represent Zanu PF in the upcoming elections.
Nathaniel Marusho was nominated to contest as a Zanu PF council candidate on August 23 this year despite being a civil servant.
However, ZLHR represented by Innocent Gonese has approached the Public Service Commission (PSC) to have Marusho relieved of his duties.
“We have lodged a complaint with Public Service Commission (PSC) over the illegal and partisan conduct of Nathaniel Marusho, a school head, who was nominated to contest local authority elections set for 23 August 2023 as a candidate for the ruling Zanu PF party,” ZLHR announced yesterday.
“Marusho is employed by PSC under the Primary and Secondary Education ministry as a headmaster at Mvurwi High School in Mashonaland Central province.”
The lawyers added: “In a letter, which was written and delivered to PSC by our lawyer Innocent Gonese, we protested that Marusho is still attending to his duties at Mvurwi High School after his nomination, which is a violation of section 200 of the Constitution, as read with the provisions of section 119 (2)(g) of the Electoral Act.”
Section 200 of the Constitution prohibits civil servants from being office-bearers of a political party.
“In the letter, we stated that by associating himself with a political party, Marusho is violating the provisions of the Constitution and of the Electoral Act, which are designed to ensure the political neutrality of members of the public service.
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“We indicated that Marusho’s employment with the PSC must have been terminated before his nomination by way of resignation and that he cannot continue working as a civil servant after the submission of his nomination papers.
“We stated that Marusho can either elect to be a politician or be employed as a civil servant but cannot do both. We asked the PSC to confirm within three days whether Marusho’s deemed resignation has come into effect and if he has stopped reporting for duty failing which we will institute appropriate legal proceedings.”
