A SENIOR Harare City Council engineer allegedly demanded a US$500 bribe from a fellow employee to recommend him for promotion.
This emerged at the Harare Magistrates Court on Tuesday where Brian Charingira, a principal engineer at the council’s automotive workshop, was facing extortion charges.
The scandal came to light during a court hearing on Monday, where Friday Muleya, a former councillor, was testifying in the case.
Muleya told Harare magistrate Lisah Mutetereki that Charingira openly admitted that he demanded a bribe to facilitate Redmond Chatikobo’s promotion.
“Sometime in May, I phoned Charingira after being asked to intervene in the impasse that had arisen between Charingira and Chatikobo,” he said.
“He openly told me that I told the complainant what to do and that failure to pay the bribe, he won’t get the promotion.”
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State prosecutor Miriro Matavo alleged that on February 29 this year, Chatikobo was recommended for promotion to the position of skilled worker class 1 in the department of works.
She told the court that Chatikobo passed all the stages according to the norms and procedures of undergoing promotion.
The State alleges that Chatikobo’s appraisal documents were referred to Charingira for final approval.
On April 14, Chatikobo is said to have contacted Charingira making a follow-up on his appraisal papers and he was told by the accused person that a decision was yet to be made.
On April 29, the accused allegedly demanded US$500 from Chatikobo so that he could approve his promotion.
However, Charingira through his lawyer Batanai Pesanai pleaded not guilty to the charge.
“The complainant is aggrieved because he expected a promotion, but failed to get it,” he submitted.