DeMbare, Pasuwa dispute rages on Callisto Pasuwa
Callisto Pasuwa

Callisto Pasuwa

Petros Kausiyo Harare Bureau
PREMIERSHIP champions Dynamos risk having property attached in order to pay former coach Callisto Pasuwa and his ex-assistant Philemon Mutyakureva after the Harare giants yesterday failed to turn up for an arbitration hearing on the matter.

Dynamos and their two former employees were scheduled to appear before an arbitrator M Kare in the morning but there was no representative from the club’s management who turned up, prompting a deferment of the matter to next Friday.

The Harare giants have previously been represented by their treasurer Webster Marechera but he was conspicuous by his absence with only the club’s lawyer Herbert Mutasa present.

Mutasa, however, told arbitrator Kare that he had since renounced agency and Dynamos would have to find another lawyer to handle the matter.

It is against this background that the arbitrator then indicated that he was giving Dynamos one final chance to appear before him next Friday failure which a default judgment would be handed against the club.

Dynamos have been erratic in the way they have honoured the agreement they reached with Pasuwa and Mutyakureva before a Labour officer Lilford Nhandara in March, prompting the coaches’ lawyers — Coghlan, Welsh and Guest — to revisit the matter and drag the club before an arbitrator.

DeMbare are being accused of defaulting in paying Pasuwa and Mutyakureva their outstanding salaries and bonuses which the club acknowledged they owe the coaches.

The Glamour Boys and Pasuwa have been haggling over the $18,950 they owe the four-time championship winning coach, whose contract with the popular club expired on December 31 last year.

The Harare giants had earlier disputed the figure, which had risen to $22,000 when the legal fees were factored in, as the Dynamos management argued that their records showed that they owed the unassuming coach only $3,000.

The champions had at first been disputing that they owe Pasuwa money and had at one stage actually accused the coach of disappearing with their property.

But after the matter came before a Labour Officer, the Harare giants acknowledged that they owe Pasuwa the money that the coach had been claiming which emanates from his outstanding monthly salaries, winning bonuses and allowances.

Mutyakureva was owed $3,950 when the matter came before a Labour officer.

The Glamour Boys were then instructed and agreed to start paying the coach who guided them to four successive Castle Lager championships between 2011 and last year, in monthly instalments of $1,500 as part of a plan to clear the debt.

But after making an initial payment of $1,500 to Pasuwa and $500 to Mutyakureva, Dynamos are understood to have been defaulting and when they did make payments, they deposited $1,000 into the coach’s account and $300 into that of his former assistant.

After a lengthy period of default, DeMbare are also reported to have made a last ditch effort to stave off yesterday’s hearing by paying Pasuwa $1,000 on Thursday and Mutyakureva $300.

However, the duo’s lawyer Wellington Magaya of Coghlan Welsh and Guest yesterday said they were proceeding with the matter despite DeMbare’s “late attempts to appease the coaches’’.

Dynamos had appeared to have abandoned a hardline stance they had taken and averted the matter spilling over to arbitration as they took a more conciliatory tone.

But all that has changed and the matter has gone for arbitration.

Magaya yesterday said they would seek a default ruling should Dynamos fail to turn up again next week.

“We got there at 10am and they were not there. The arbitrator called their lawyer who so happened to be within the nearby complex and he indicated that he has since renounced agency.

“The arbitrator said he was keen to give them another chance and on Monday we will serve letters to their secretary-general (Webster Chikengezha) and if they do not come on Friday next week the arbitrator will proceed with a matter as a default case.

“They are already in breach of the deed of settlement so we just want judgment on the full settlement,’’ Magaya said.

Mutasa declined to discuss the matter, referring all questions to the Dynamos management.

“I can’t comment on the issue anymore, I can’t even comment on our relationship, there are issues to be sorted out with my clients so you would have to speak to them,’’ Mutasa said.

Dynamos president Kenny Mubaiwa said he did not have finer details of the matter as it was being handled by Marechera, who however could not be reached for comment.

“The matter was being handled by our treasurer but I am aware that we have been making some payments but I don’t have the finer details,’’ Mubaiwa said.

Once the parties struck an agreement on a payment plan in which Dynamos will also cede the motor vehicle they had given the coach as a company car — a Honda CRV — Nhandara indicated that the Labour office would now issue a settlement certificate. The move by the coaches and the club to strike an arrangement also helped avert the matter spilling into arbitration at the Labour Court.

Crucially for Pasuwa, Dynamos made a major climb down from the $15,000 they had demanded for the motor vehicle and the $1,000 they had also claimed the coach was owing, “in respect of the TV set, DVD, washing machine and TV stand’’ which the coach was alleged to have held onto.

Instead the value of the Honda CRV was put at $3,750 with the consent of the parties.

 

 

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