Unions run out of patience with Meatco
Farmers accuse Meatco of name-dropping to get funding
The meat processing company is accused of paying farmers in communal areas peanuts while paying premium rates to well-connected commercial farmers.
Several farmers' unions have accused the country’s meat processing parastatal of diverting funds meant to develop the meat industry to fund its "inefficient" internal operations.
They also claim communal farmers are paid peanuts compared to their commercial counterparts.
In an extraordinary attack on cash-strapped Meatco, unions did not mince their words when they accused the meat entity of favouring certain farmers when it comes to payments, failing to consult its wide-ranging membership, and failing to expeditiously operationalise abattoirs in the Northern Communal Area (NCA) in order to meet the needs of farmers.
Concerns listed
The Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU), together with the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers’ Union and the Previously Disadvantaged Commercial Farmers' Union, made these remarks on Friday morning at a press conference in Windhoek, at the same time when Meatco was hosting its special general meeting in Otjiwarongo, some 260 kilometres away.
Meatco did not respond to questions sent to it by the time of going to print.
The unions accused Meatco of sidelining and using communal farmers from south and north of the veterinary cordon fence (VCF) for its own gain.
NNFU acting president, Amon Mutjiwee Kapi, said the special general meeting was called on very short notice and was never shared with the unions representing communal farmers.
"Our farmers, who are members of Meatco, raised their concerns with the union’s leadership regarding Meatco’s way of doing things. It targeted specific commercial farmers, to which it paid high prices. The trend has been going for long now regarding selective engagement.
"Meatco is paying different prices, there are significant disparities by paying high and incomparable prices for commercial farmers while very low prices are paid to farmers in the NCA and even communal farmers south of the VCF," he said.
Management questioned
Farmers have also raised red flags about the future existence of Meatco, with some saying the company risks liquidation if its operations and financial position do not improve.
"Increasing poor management and performance in the organisation and ever-increasing debt and continuous bailouts by government, which never happened before."
Kapi stressed that Meatco is the only public livestock market for farmers and that they cannot allow the organisation to go down the drain.
"We cannot allow our farmers to suffer because of poor management and a lack of integrity."
Meatco, Kapi said, is in the process of dissolving its NCA subsidiary, which is currently the only means to serve the northern farmers.
He said that there is no consultation with the farmers, and claimed it is currently being undertaken in secrecy.
Slow progress
Meatco pulled out of the NCA in 2015, leaving the northern regions without a market.
Kapi estimates that Meatco has received more than N$500 million in government guarantees and equity since 2020; however, he says it has little to show for it.
"Government has constructed and renovated abattoirs in the NCA that are supposed to be operated by a public entity, but nothing is happening at those facilities. The construction and renovation of abattoirs, government guarantees, and equity are tax payers’ money and cannot be used for inefficient operations," he said.
Kapi said: "Meatco is yet to reach the Rundu, Oshakati and Opuwo abattoirs; it is only operating at the Katima Mulilo abattoir since 2021, yet it received government guarantees and equity to support the NCA."
‘Bottomless pit’
Some meat industry players have also accused government of failing to hold Meatco accountable for the funding it receives.
"Government is throwing money into a bottomless pit because it does not follow-up to see if Meatco really uses the funding it gets to do as promised. Most of these funds are gobbled up by operations and hefty salaries to executives at the company," an industry insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Sunday.
Some claim that subsistence and travel allowances have also been turned into a cash cow by executives at the company.
The union said its attempt to sit around the table with Meatco leadership has proven futile.
"We will now engage the supervisory authorities of Meatco, and if it proves futile, we will exhaust all the avenues and means and do whatever it takes to solve this problem," Kapi concluded.
They also claim communal farmers are paid peanuts compared to their commercial counterparts.
In an extraordinary attack on cash-strapped Meatco, unions did not mince their words when they accused the meat entity of favouring certain farmers when it comes to payments, failing to consult its wide-ranging membership, and failing to expeditiously operationalise abattoirs in the Northern Communal Area (NCA) in order to meet the needs of farmers.
Concerns listed
The Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU), together with the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers’ Union and the Previously Disadvantaged Commercial Farmers' Union, made these remarks on Friday morning at a press conference in Windhoek, at the same time when Meatco was hosting its special general meeting in Otjiwarongo, some 260 kilometres away.
Meatco did not respond to questions sent to it by the time of going to print.
The unions accused Meatco of sidelining and using communal farmers from south and north of the veterinary cordon fence (VCF) for its own gain.
NNFU acting president, Amon Mutjiwee Kapi, said the special general meeting was called on very short notice and was never shared with the unions representing communal farmers.
"Our farmers, who are members of Meatco, raised their concerns with the union’s leadership regarding Meatco’s way of doing things. It targeted specific commercial farmers, to which it paid high prices. The trend has been going for long now regarding selective engagement.
"Meatco is paying different prices, there are significant disparities by paying high and incomparable prices for commercial farmers while very low prices are paid to farmers in the NCA and even communal farmers south of the VCF," he said.
Management questioned
Farmers have also raised red flags about the future existence of Meatco, with some saying the company risks liquidation if its operations and financial position do not improve.
"Increasing poor management and performance in the organisation and ever-increasing debt and continuous bailouts by government, which never happened before."
Kapi stressed that Meatco is the only public livestock market for farmers and that they cannot allow the organisation to go down the drain.
"We cannot allow our farmers to suffer because of poor management and a lack of integrity."
Meatco, Kapi said, is in the process of dissolving its NCA subsidiary, which is currently the only means to serve the northern farmers.
He said that there is no consultation with the farmers, and claimed it is currently being undertaken in secrecy.
Slow progress
Meatco pulled out of the NCA in 2015, leaving the northern regions without a market.
Kapi estimates that Meatco has received more than N$500 million in government guarantees and equity since 2020; however, he says it has little to show for it.
"Government has constructed and renovated abattoirs in the NCA that are supposed to be operated by a public entity, but nothing is happening at those facilities. The construction and renovation of abattoirs, government guarantees, and equity are tax payers’ money and cannot be used for inefficient operations," he said.
Kapi said: "Meatco is yet to reach the Rundu, Oshakati and Opuwo abattoirs; it is only operating at the Katima Mulilo abattoir since 2021, yet it received government guarantees and equity to support the NCA."
‘Bottomless pit’
Some meat industry players have also accused government of failing to hold Meatco accountable for the funding it receives.
"Government is throwing money into a bottomless pit because it does not follow-up to see if Meatco really uses the funding it gets to do as promised. Most of these funds are gobbled up by operations and hefty salaries to executives at the company," an industry insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Sunday.
Some claim that subsistence and travel allowances have also been turned into a cash cow by executives at the company.
The union said its attempt to sit around the table with Meatco leadership has proven futile.
"We will now engage the supervisory authorities of Meatco, and if it proves futile, we will exhaust all the avenues and means and do whatever it takes to solve this problem," Kapi concluded.
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