TM senior official reinstated despite sexual harassment charges

Aqra bil-Malti

A Transport Malta official on bail following sexual harassment charges has been reinstated after having his suspension lifted, one among over 30 officials Prime Minister Robert Abela returned to the job despite ongoing criminal proceedings.

Clint Axisa, 44, is a Labour Party activist from Fgura, a district contested by  Transport Minister Chris Bonett.

Earlier this week, Axisa was seen in a new office at Infrastructure Malta, where Transport Malta officials asked him to start reporting for work.

So far, neither Transport Minister Chris Bonett nor the CEOs of Infrastructure Malta and Transport Malta, Ivan Falzon and Mark Mallia, have replied to The Shift’s questions on the matter.

After facing media scrutiny and pressure from independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola, Clint Axisa was charged in court in February 2022. He stands accused of several criminal acts, including non-consensual sex with a female colleague, as well as sexually harassing her and another woman.

Axisa has denied all the charges.

As a result of these charges, Axisa was suspended from his Transport Malta job and put on half-pay until the court case was completed.

The lifting of Axisa’s suspension and his work reinstatement is the latest in a series of similar events over the last few weeks.

At least 36 civil service employees have already been reinstated despite still facing criminal proceedings in court.

Neither Prime Minister Robert Abela nor his Principal Permanent Secretary, Tony Sultana, have so far explained this departure from the Public Service Management Code (PSMC).

According to these rules, employees in public posts charged with criminal offences in court must be suspended from their jobs until their proceedings are over.

The Labour administration has already made exceptions to these rules.

One such case concerns Rabat Mayor Sandro Craus, who, despite charges of misappropriation of funds and the grating of a phantom job to Melvin Theuma – the middleman in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia – was still kept on a €65,000 OPM job through Projects Plus and will be contesting the local councils’ election again on Labour’s ticket.