THE Namibia Red Cross Society (NRCS) has been accused of unfair labour practices after terminating the services of three senior managers.
And the matter could land in court, after lawyers representing the affected workers threatened to do just that. The humanitarian organisation, which embarked on a restructuring process towards the end of last year, decided to cut the positions of deputy secretary general, head of finance and head of programmes and retrench the incumbent officials.The positions were held by Geniene Veii, Sophie Gei-Khoibes and Nicolette Bessinger respectively.Their services will effectively be terminated at the end of this month.The three, together with the Secretary General (Chief Executive Officer), formed the Society’s four-member senior management team.The affected managers yesterday called on the office of The Namibian to cry foul.”This whole thing [restructuring] was done behind our backs, we were never consulted,” they claimed.Veii added: “How can we be senior managers but not be part and parcel of the restructuring process? ‘ we only came to know about it on the day we received our retrenchment letters”.The three questioned the criteria used to arrive at the decision of declaring their positions redundant.”If the ills of the Society lay with top management, then why was the secretary general spared,” Bessinger asked.NRCS Secretary General Razia Kauaria, who disputed claims that the affected mangers were not consulted, said that restructuring was a constitutional prerogative of the Society’s Governing Board.”I don’t think the retrenchment was unlawful because the right channels were followed.Everybody was involved in the restructuring process – including the three ladies,” she said.Justifying the case for restructuring, Kauaria pointed out that the Namibian Red Cross Society had grown “tremendously” in the last 10 years of its existence and therefore needed a new structure that was more responsive to the “needs on the ground”.The law firm of Kauta, Basson and Kamuhanga, which is acting on behalf of the retrenched trio, has already threatened to go to court, “if the Society fails to rectify its vexatious actions”.The Society, through its lawyers Lorentz and Bone, vowed to “vehemently” oppose any legal action brought against it.The Namibian is in possession of copies of the correspondence between the two legal teams, as well as the notices of retrenchment to the three officials.The humanitarian organisation, which embarked on a restructuring process towards the end of last year, decided to cut the positions of deputy secretary general, head of finance and head of programmes and retrench the incumbent officials. The positions were held by Geniene Veii, Sophie Gei-Khoibes and Nicolette Bessinger respectively. Their services will effectively be terminated at the end of this month. The three, together with the Secretary General (Chief Executive Officer), formed the Society’s four-member senior management team. The affected managers yesterday called on the office of The Namibian to cry foul. “This whole thing [restructuring] was done behind our backs, we were never consulted,” they claimed. Veii added: “How can we be senior managers but not be part and parcel of the restructuring process? ‘ we only came to know about it on the day we received our retrenchment letters”. The three questioned the criteria used to arrive at the decision of declaring their positions redundant. “If the ills of the Society lay with top management, then why was the secretary general spared,” Bessinger asked. NRCS Secretary General Razia Kauaria, who disputed claims that the affected mangers were not consulted, said that restructuring was a constitutional prerogative of the Society’s Governing Board. “I don’t think the retrenchment was unlawful because the right channels were followed. Everybody was involved in the restructuring process – including the three ladies,” she said. Justifying the case for restructuring, Kauaria pointed out that the Namibian Red Cross Society had grown “tremendously” in the last 10 years of its existence and therefore needed a new structure that was more responsive to the “needs on the ground”. The law firm of Kauta, Basson and Kamuhanga, which is acting on behalf of the retrenched trio, has already threatened to go to court, “if the Society fails to rectify its vexatious actions”. The Society, through its lawyers Lorentz and Bone, vowed to “vehemently” oppose any legal action brought against it. The Namibian is in possession of copies of the correspondence between the two legal teams, as well as the notices of retrenchment to the three officials.
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