A sexual-harassment storm has engulfed Proton Bakers in Marondera, with a senior manager losing his job after a female employee’s complaint was taken to the United Food and Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe(UFAWUZ).
According to H-Metro, Evans Koga, who worked at Proton Bakers, is believed to be the manager dismissed in the wake of the complaint. The case has put the conduct of managers, the protection of women workers and the power of employment contracts at the centre of a dispute that began inside one of Marondera’s best-known food companies.
One of the affected workers escalated the matter to the union after complaints were raised about alleged sexual harassment by management. The union then pressed the bakery’s authorities to respond and take action against the employee it named in correspondence.
A letter dated 24 August 2026, signed by the union’s general secretary, Adoniah Mutero, also popularly known as Ady Mutero, said the organisation had received information that acts of sexual harassment were being committed by management at Proton Bakers. The letter identified the employee accused of sexually molesting a female worker and demanded that the bakery’s directors deal with the complaint.
The union gave management 24 hours to explain what action had been taken. It said no response was received within the stipulated period. The union was particularly angered by what it described as the silence of the company’s human resources manager and directors in the face of serious complaints involving female employees.
“We wrote to you as directors highlighting the gravity of such actions by management towards female employees, whether married or not,” the letter read.
The union continued: “As a trade union, we will not condone such behaviour. We will not leave women in the workplace at the mercy of managers who seek to exploit them by demanding sexual favours in exchange for guarantees of contract extension.”
It also said it would not tolerate coerced consent where a woman’s continued employment or the renewal of her contract was placed at risk. The union warned that, if Proton Bakers failed to respond, it would refer the matter to the Zimbabwe Gender Commission for an investigation into the scale of abuse and sexual harassment at the company.
The union further warned that it would mobilise women’s organisations to campaign for the protection of women workers at Proton Bakers if its demands were ignored.
Mutero serves as the chief administrative and executive officer of UFAWUZ, representing workers in the food, milling, and allied processing industries in labor disputes, collective bargaining, and workers’ rights advocacy. He has been active in leading union efforts regarding wage negotiations within the National Employment Council (NEC) and addressing workplace grievances, such as labor disputes and misconduct investigations in the agro-processing and baking sectors.
Koga had spent about eight years at Proton Bakers. His employment history shows that he joined the company in June 2018 as a verifier despatch, a position he held until May 2019. He then became assistant despatch manager, serving in that role until April 2021, before being promoted to operations manager in May 2021. In February 2024, he became senior despatch manager.
On his LinkedIn profile, Koga describes himself as a logistics professional who takes pride in helping others, learning new skills and building trust. He writes: “I am a Logistics Professional that thrives on helping others, paying it forward and going above and beyond with each and every task. I’m enthusiastic about growing and gaining new skills on my Logistics journey. I value learning from others, genuine connections and hearing about other people’s passions and how I can possibly help. I also believe in going all the way to get things done but smiling, laughing and even twirling along the way. I have held senior management positions from ZESA, ONE Logistics, Nyati Tours and Travel up to Proton Bakers where am currently employed at. I am also the founder and President of Touching Lives Charity Zimbabwe based charity organization seeking to help orphans, widows and the less privileged.
“Luckily I’m obsessed with staying organized and making everyone’s life easier. It brings such a genuine joy to my heart to take the burden off of my loved one’s shoulders, and I always do anything I can to enhance that. Work is not different. Those aren’t many things that can grow a company the way TRUST and DEPENDABILITY can, and I pride myself in being so dedicated to both. As an outgoing person who does fishing, swimming, farming and leisure, when I’m not at work or in denial about having a social life, I’m home.”
Koga and Proton Bakers management could not be reached for comment on the dismissal and the complaints that led to it.
The dispute comes as institutions in Zimbabwe face renewed pressure to respond to sexual harassment in workplaces and other settings. In 2021, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and the International Labour Organisation produced a national strategy intended to guide both public and private-sector organisations in fighting gender-based violence and sexual harassment at work. The strategy placed responsibility on organisations to develop stronger systems for prevention, reporting and action.
The Gender Commission also opened a broad investigation in 2025 into sexual-harassment complaints in higher and tertiary education. The inquiry sought written complaints, evidence and testimony from students, staff, witnesses and other concerned people after complaints involving staff and senior personnel accused of preying on young women. Although the investigation focused on education, its central concern was similar to the one raised at Proton Bakers: how people in positions of authority respond when the person making a complaint depends on the institution for work, study or professional opportunity.
Other Zimbabwean cases have shown how workplace and institutional power can become part of sexual-assault disputes. In 2022, Andrew Dinhidza, then chief operations officer of Lobels Biscuits in Bulawayo, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of rape and aggravated indecent assault involving female subordinates. The women included current and former employees, and the complaints concerned alleged incidents in an office, a vehicle and lodges in Bulawayo.
Dinhidza was acquitted of all 10 charges by Bulawayo magistrate Joseph Mabeza in July 2023. The court accepted that the allegations had been driven by malice and personal disputes linked to the complainants’ employment. Magistrate Mabeza said: “The accused pleaded not guilty to all charges, maintaining that the allegations against him were false and concocted out of malice, fuelled by personal vendettas following the complainants’ dismissal from the company.”
The magistrate added: “The court remains in doubt as to whether these events truly occurred or whether they were part of a meticulously orchestrated scheme. Consequently, the accused is hereby declared not guilty of all charges pertaining to rape and aggravated indecent assault.”
In another high-profile case, Mighty Warriors coach Shadreck Mlauzi was arrested in October 2023 after a female member of the technical team complained about unwanted sexual advances during a regional tournament. He was charged with indecent assault and appeared in court. In January 2024, a Harare magistrate acquitted him after finding that the prosecution evidence was too weak and that the main witness’s account was unreliable and varied.
A separate Bulawayo case involving a workplace complaint was still before the courts in March 2025. Prosecutor Dominic Moyo told the court that businessman and bar owner Owen Zhou had subjected a 20-year-old employee to persistent harassment over nearly two months. The prosecution said the first incident occurred on 20 September 2024, when Zhou allegedly slapped the woman on the buttocks while she was at work.
The prosecution further said that, in September, Zhou dragged the woman to a men’s toilet near the bar counter and forced her to touch his genitals before raping her. The woman reportedly remained silent because she feared losing her job. On 6 November, after a dispute over unpaid wages, Zhou allegedly slapped her twice, grabbed her by the collar and removed her from the premises. She later reported the matter to police with her sister and was referred for a medical examination. Zhou pleaded not guilty and accused the woman of fabricating the allegations to force him out of business and extort US$20,000.
At Proton Bakers, the union’s letter has made the alleged use of contract renewal as leverage a central issue. Its demand for a response, threat to approach the Gender Commission and warning that it would bring in women’s groups show that the dispute has moved beyond an internal complaint. The dismissal of a manager after the complaint has now placed the company’s handling of the matter under close scrutiny, while workers await a clear account of what action was taken and what protections will be put in place for women at the bakery.