Unpaid regional council workers threaten lawsuit
Employees of the Kunene Regional Council have not yet received their December salaries, apparently because of a power struggle between the council and the line ministry.
JEMIMA BEUKES
WINDHOEK
After a long and broke Christmas, employees of the Kunene Regional Council are still in the dark about their salaries and are now reaching out to lawyers as part of their plan to sue the council and government for damages incurred because of the non-payment of salaries.
Salaries for December remain unpaid after the suspension of chief regional officer George Kamseb, the only authorised official to sign off payments.
According to some of the workers who spoke to Namibian Sun on condition of anonymity yesterday, there has been no communication as to when December salaries will be paid – or whether they must brace themselves for more months without pay.
The group also accused their union, Namibia Public Workers Union (NAPWU) of turning its back on them.
“As it stands right now, there is a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 6 January 2022, but this we have learned through an invitation that has been doing the rounds on social media,” an employee told Namibian Sun yesterday.
“The damage has been done, and we definitely think our only way to a solution is through the court. We are in debt and are threatened with blacklisting. We have not been officially informed of this decision and that is total abuse of our rights,” an employee told Namibian Sun yesterday.
Tit-for-tat
Chairperson of the Kunene Regional Council, Hendrik Gaobaeb, said yesterday that he had no idea when the salaries of the staff would be paid and that a meeting was scheduled for 31 January 2022 to discuss this issue.
According to him, the council resolved the suspension of salaries after the minister of urban and rural development, Erastus Utoni, dragged them to court for reinstating Kamseb as chief regional officer.
“We dropped everything (legal suit) and reinstated the CRO and the minister demanded that we cancel that decision but we said we could not. The minister, without informing us, decided to take us to court and instructed the council not to pay the salary of Kamseb. So, the council took a resolution that Kamseb must stop signing payments, since he is the only one to do that.”
You have our sympathy
The ministry of urban and rural development issued a statement in December, saying the money for salaries had been released to the council on 21 December 2021 already.
“There is a no dispute over the employment status of the rest of the staff members and therefore it is unfortunate and uncalled for that the regional council decided to withhold their salaries.
“The ministry sympathises and is in solidarity with the staff members of the council whose salaries have been unfairly withheld by their employer,” the statement read.
Minister of urban and rural development Erastus Utoni could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The general secretary of the Namibian Workers Union (NAPWU), Peter Nevonga, was also unavailable for comment.
[email protected]
WINDHOEK
After a long and broke Christmas, employees of the Kunene Regional Council are still in the dark about their salaries and are now reaching out to lawyers as part of their plan to sue the council and government for damages incurred because of the non-payment of salaries.
Salaries for December remain unpaid after the suspension of chief regional officer George Kamseb, the only authorised official to sign off payments.
According to some of the workers who spoke to Namibian Sun on condition of anonymity yesterday, there has been no communication as to when December salaries will be paid – or whether they must brace themselves for more months without pay.
The group also accused their union, Namibia Public Workers Union (NAPWU) of turning its back on them.
“As it stands right now, there is a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 6 January 2022, but this we have learned through an invitation that has been doing the rounds on social media,” an employee told Namibian Sun yesterday.
“The damage has been done, and we definitely think our only way to a solution is through the court. We are in debt and are threatened with blacklisting. We have not been officially informed of this decision and that is total abuse of our rights,” an employee told Namibian Sun yesterday.
Tit-for-tat
Chairperson of the Kunene Regional Council, Hendrik Gaobaeb, said yesterday that he had no idea when the salaries of the staff would be paid and that a meeting was scheduled for 31 January 2022 to discuss this issue.
According to him, the council resolved the suspension of salaries after the minister of urban and rural development, Erastus Utoni, dragged them to court for reinstating Kamseb as chief regional officer.
“We dropped everything (legal suit) and reinstated the CRO and the minister demanded that we cancel that decision but we said we could not. The minister, without informing us, decided to take us to court and instructed the council not to pay the salary of Kamseb. So, the council took a resolution that Kamseb must stop signing payments, since he is the only one to do that.”
You have our sympathy
The ministry of urban and rural development issued a statement in December, saying the money for salaries had been released to the council on 21 December 2021 already.
“There is a no dispute over the employment status of the rest of the staff members and therefore it is unfortunate and uncalled for that the regional council decided to withhold their salaries.
“The ministry sympathises and is in solidarity with the staff members of the council whose salaries have been unfairly withheld by their employer,” the statement read.
Minister of urban and rural development Erastus Utoni could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The general secretary of the Namibian Workers Union (NAPWU), Peter Nevonga, was also unavailable for comment.
[email protected]
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article