By GRACE CHAILE LESOETSA
FORMER employees of Barclays Bank have protested the dismissal of their case in which they were claiming benefits from Barclays Bank.
In a complaint letter to the Chief Justice dated June 23, 2021, following the dismissal of their appeal to the Lusaka High Court for being time barred and lack of grounds of appeal, the former employees have contended that the judges did not treat the matter with fairness.
They stated that the judges failed to recognise the grounds of appeal which were based on an earlier ruling from Judge Phillip Musonda in the same matter.
According to the letter of complaint delivered to the Chief Justice by Mr Phillimon Nyirenda on behalf of 1, 500 other former employees, the complainants have demanded a serious review of their matter.
Mr Nyirenda said, “I and my fellow colleagues have suffered enough.”
In the dismissed court matter, the former employees had asked the court to order Attorney General, Inspector General of Police, Director General (DEC) to investigate, arrest, prosecute pension thieves and recover pension.
In the letter they referred the Chief Justice to Justice Musonda’s High Court Ruling Cause no. 2012/HD/0640 dated March 8, 2012, where he ruled Barclays Bank now ABSA Staff Pension Scheme was fraudulent and enmeshed in serious fraudulent activities and wondered if this was not reasonable ground enough for the judges to have heard the application?
“Even the Zambia Revenue Authority, Director Legal Services, Morgan Mukwasa in his letter dated 27th May, 2020 in interpreting the former High Court Judge P. Musonda’s ruling said, “Our understanding of the contents of the Ruling is that the Court satisfied itself that there was fraud and undercapitalisation of the Barclays Bank Zambia Plc Staff Pension Fund (the “Fund”) by Barclays Bank Plc senior management,” reads part of the complaint letter.
The letter also states that “if those involved in this pension theft do not face justice, it will set a dangerous precedent to future aspiring leaders that they can steal and get away with it and use stolen funds to catapult themselves into leadership.”
