All is not well at the German development agency, GIZ, following accusations and counter accusations of racism and discrimination in staff recruitment.
The Observer has obtained a number of internal memos in which some members of staff chronicle the tension running through the agency and protests over the alleged hiring of foreigners at the expense of Ugandans.
According to sources at GIZ who preferred anonymity for fear of reprisal, at least six Ugandan staff have had their contracts terminated or not renewed. These include; the security risk management advisor, Communications and PR advisor and two technical consultants, among others.
“The whole working environment at GIZ is toxic…many Ugandans are losing their jobs to foreigners and those who dare speak out are harassed,” said a source.
“Many of our colleagues are being hounded out because they are Ugandans and what hurts is that they are being replaced by whites or Pakistanis. This is racism.”
On the other hand, the agency accuses the staff of leaking sensitive information and making libelous statements against the country director James Macbeth Forbes. The matter is now before court as both sides fight to clear their name.
GENESIS
In one of the memos dated September 21, Victor Ndyabagye, the former security risk management advisor, accuses Forbes of ignoring the concerns of locally engaged staff by scrapping their gratuity, favouring foreigners to take over positions reserved for nationals as well as ignoring the plight of Ugandan workers at the agency.
He says that on August 4, Forbes informed him that his contract ending on October 31 would not be renewed. Aggrieved, he filed a formal complaint with the GIZ Corporate Unit Compliance and Integrity requesting mediation but was shocked to learn on August 20 that the job had been offered to the spouse of one of the GIZ development workers from Austria.
“It’s very unfair for the unemployed Ugandans when an intern from Austria or Germany is hired as a consultant in nine months and given an expat contract in one year. One thing should be clear, this was retaliation for my standing up for the rights and benefits of national staff,” he claims.
“Unfortunately, two of my colleagues will soon be replaced by Pakistani nationals who are also sisters.”
According to documents seen by The Observer, the said Pakistani nationals are Rhea Hirani, a consultant, and Nehl Hirani, a technical advisor.
The Observer has seen a copy of Rhea’s six-month consultancy contract worth Shs 43.5m for the period of March to September this year.
“They did that without tender even when the policy of GIZ is that for that amount, you have to tender and get at least three people to quote. Exception is when the person you need is a specialist and the only available to do such work,” said the source.
Meanwhile, Ndyabagye’s memo also calls for the integration of Ugandans in top-level positions such as that of an advisor for gender, health and HIV-mainstreaming and program finance managers.
“Not long ago, an irrational decision not to pay VAT and get reimbursed by the Ugandan Revenue Authority (URA) backfired and almost brought bilateral relations to a standstill,” warns the memo.
Ndyabagye notes that while heading the GIZ National Staff Council, he disapproved of the hiring of a painter to work as a consultant in the procurement department.
“He
was a spouse of one of the development workers. Procurement colleagues were required to teach him what works, what doesn’t and why. Does that make sense to you?” he wonders.
He further attributes the cause of friction in the agency to nepotism.
“GIZ Uganda management team is full of relatives and friends. For instance, the country director’s spouse heads the Better Migration Management Program. The director of Finance and Administration’s spouse heads the Rural Development Program. Two Pakistani sisters provide administrative support (secretarial) for the country director and his spouse respectively. These were hired on national staff contracts reserved for Ugandans. An internal policy allows GIZ to hire spouses of international employees but not the spouses of local employees,” he claims.
“If you want to understand why some companies have a toxic culture, underperform relative to their potential, and eventually collapse, look no further than the quality of their leadership teams. In my opinion, multinational corporations are taking advantage of weak local laws and corrupt immigration officials. Does Immigration at the Ministry of Internal affairs do due diligence before issuing work permits?”
GIZ HITS BACK
In a twist, GIZ sued Ndyabagye accusing him of making libelous statements against the agency. On October 27, court issued a temporary injunction restraining Ndyabagye from releasing any memo until the suit is determined.
The Observer