Former gov�t employee wins big in scarce skills suit
Oarabile Mosikare | Tuesday October 17, 2017 12:55
Acting Justice Kabelo Lebotse yesterday ordered that the Ministry of Transport and Communications pays Judah Buisanyang a 25% scarce skills allowance retrospectively from date of implementation of Directive No. 2 of 2008 until March 31, 2014, which is when the applicant resigned.
Lebotse also ruled that government bears the costs of the application.
Buisanyang’s case is that on July 14, 2008 he was employed by the Director of Public Service Management (DPSM), as an assistant management analyst. He was promoted on June 1, 2010 to the post of management analyst II in the Business Process Re-Engineering Division. He was promoted again to the position of management I, effective from November 1, 2012. The applicant served at this post until he resigned from the public service on March 31, 2014.
The Judge said by Directive No. 2 of 2008, the employer introduced scarce allowance for certain cadres of its employees. The employees were entitled to the scarce skills allowance if they possessed relevant and appropriate qualifications and carried out the functions and duties of the post attracting the said benefit. Buisanyang contended that he possessed the requisite relevant and appropriate qualifications, being a Bachelor of Arts degree, and also “that as management analyst in the Business Process Re-Engineering Division he performed functions and duties of the post that attracted the scarce skills allowance and was thus entitled to be paid the scarce skills allowance at 25% of his basic salary from the introduction of same in April 2008”.
On the other hand the respondent accepted that the applicant was not paid scarce skills allowance. The reason for not paying him the allowance was that he did not possess the requisite relevant appropriate qualifications. The respondent maintained that Buisanyang did not possess the requisite qualifications in that he did not have a Certificate in Management Services from the Institute of Management Services or any accredited institution. The applicant argued that possession of the Certificate in Management Services was not required for one to qualify to be paid the scarce skills allowance. This Certificate was not mentioned as a requirement for payment of the allowance in the 2008 Directive and could not therefore be a basis for denying him the same, he argued.
“In my view, there is a problem with the argument of the respondent in that the 2008 Directive was implemented in April 2008. The 2011 Directive came three years after implementation of 2008 Directive as such it cannot be used to justify denying the applicant scarce skills allowance… The denial cannot even be justified on the basis of the 2011 Directive as the 2011 Directive came long after the coming into effect of the Directive on Scarce Skills Allowance,” Lebotse said.
He also found and held that Buisanyang possessed relevant and appropriate qualifications and fully performed the duties of management analyst and was entitled to 25% scarce skills allowance and was wrongly denied same. Uyapo Ndadi’s firm represented the applicant while the Attorney General acted on behalf the Ministry of Transport and Communications.