Ruihupisa Kandando, a lecturer and head of department, took Unam to court saying his travel allowance was arbitrarily slashed at the time when the University was struggling to pay salaries.

District Labour Court Magistrate Rachel Nathaniel granted judgement by default after Unam failed to give notice they would defend the case.

The case stems from a three-week trip that Kandando undertook to Japan in December last year. The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) had fully sponsored the trip.

Kandando said in court papers that Unam had issued a cheque for nearly N$10 900 as a contingency allowance, but the amount was reduced to N$3 300 without him being informed.

He said the policy was clear about how much he should have been paid.
The Unam lecturer said that as a result of the money crisis at Unam, the financial department may have gone behind his back and inquired from JICA what their funding covered. Afterwards his allowance was reduced contrary to Unam's policy, he argued.

Unam's lawyers failed to reply for three months to Kandando's challenge, with the institution's legal representative, Clive Kavendjii, saying this was because of difficulties finding officials to give affidavits. Kavendjii attended the court hearing even though Unam had not given notice that it would defend the case.

Steve Rukoro, a labour consultant representing Kandando, asked that the case be granted in his client's favour so that Unam would not be allowed to "get away with a flagrant disregard" for court procedures.

"We could be setting a dangerous precedent. That the very institution where lawyers are trained is acting in flagrant disregard [of court procedures]... We are not talking about a coffee shop, we are talking about the apex of [educational] training," said Rukoro.

Nathaniel ruled in Kandando's favour. Kavendjii said after the judgment that he would consult Unam for further instructions.

Kandando said that even though his trip was fully funded, "For me it was a question of principle rather than the money issue."

"This judgment vindicates that the University is sacrificing the rights of employees on an alter of their crisis," said Kandando.

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