GICUMBI -  A group of former employees in Gicumbi District have petitioned the provincial governor, Aime Bosenibamwe, challenging the district’s decision to terminate their contracts.

The workers, among them the former head of the district labour inspectorate and cell leaders, argue that they were unfairly dismissed under the pretext of restructuring.

The dismissal of 7 district and 15 cell leaders was announced after a District Advisory Council (DAC) meeting which sat on August 29.

In a letter addressed to the governor, which was seen by The New Times, the retrenched Labour Inspector, Olivier Gakuba, argues that the employee’s evaluation which was conducted prior to their dismissal was marred by irregularities.

They pointed out that  some cell leaders were retrenched yet they scored above the 70 percent pass mark. 

"The evaluators did not indicate the criteria for the award of marks to each employee as required by Ministry of Labour guidelines.

The space reserved on the forms for evaluators’ comments on the employees was left blank which raises suspicion,” Gakuba told The New Times. 

The governor confirmed that he has received the complaints from the affected leaders and the province will try to look into them.

"Our duty is to ensure that transparency prevails in the employees’ reform exercise,” he said.

Bosenibamwe added that he directed the reinstatement of Gashenyi Cell Executive Secretary, whom he found to have been interdicted unfairly.

Contacted, the Mayor, Bonane Nyangezi, maintained that the evaluation exercise was carried out fairly.

"Those who say there was unfair evaluation are telling lies because we followed the Ministry of Labour guidelines,” he said.

Ends