Katima Council moves to cut staff by half

THE Katima Mulilo Town Council is to restructure its municipality with the ultimate aim of reducing its bloated staff by half – at least.

The council currently employs about 120 workers. Mayor Michael Mudabeti yesterday confirmed that a consultant had been hired to guide the restructuring process.Employees were told on Friday that the restructuring exercise, which has been in the offing since last year, would be vigorously pursued in the coming weeks.They have been requested to re-apply for the approximately 60 jobs provided for under the new structure.Interviews will start as early as next week.Mudabeti said notice of the restructuring exercise had been communicated to the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing, the Namibian Public Workers’ Union (Napwu) and the Labour Commissioner’s Office.”It’s a hard thing.Even if the workers say they are not happy, the process has be undertaken,” the Mayor said yesterday.The process was put on the backburner last year when the council was.grappling with dire financial problems and infighting among councillors.But Mudabeti said the action was now necessary to bring the affairs of the council back on track.”We still need to explain [to workers] what we mean.It is not to punish anybody but to get the council to function properly.”The Mayor said the current council had ‘inherited’ an overstaffed municipality and trimming the staff for the sake of efficiency was long overdue.Those who were unsuccessful in the application process would be considered for retrenchment packages – as would those who failed to re-apply for the available jobs.”Half of them are willing to go because they no longer have confidence in the council,” an employee claimed to The Namibian yesterday.Although they were paid wages on time last month, workers remain unhappy that their contributions to their pensions, medical aid schemes and other insurance have not been paid in since last October.Yesterday Town Clerk Agnes Limbo said the municipality was now actively implementing mechanisms suggested by the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing to boost its revenue.However, she said, residents were still not forthcoming in settling their accounts.”From the look of things, we’re getting better.We realise the mistakes we made.I think it became clear to council that what was going on was not an individual problem but a collective problem that we need to address as a team,” said Limbo.Mayor Michael Mudabeti yesterday confirmed that a consultant had been hired to guide the restructuring process.Employees were told on Friday that the restructuring exercise, which has been in the offing since last year, would be vigorously pursued in the coming weeks.They have been requested to re-apply for the approximately 60 jobs provided for under the new structure.Interviews will start as early as next week.Mudabeti said notice of the restructuring exercise had been communicated to the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing, the Namibian Public Workers’ Union (Napwu) and the Labour Commissioner’s Office.”It’s a hard thing.Even if the workers say they are not happy, the process has be undertaken,” the Mayor said yesterday.The process was put on the backburner last year when the council was.grappling with dire financial problems and infighting among councillors.But Mudabeti said the action was now necessary to bring the affairs of the council back on track.”We still need to explain [to workers] what we mean.It is not to punish anybody but to get the council to function properly.”The Mayor said the current council had ‘inherited’ an overstaffed municipality and trimming the staff for the sake of efficiency was long overdue.Those who were unsuccessful in the application process would be considered for retrenchment packages – as would those who failed to re-apply for the available jobs.”Half of them are willing to go because they no longer have confidence in the council,” an employee claimed to The Namibian yesterday.Although they were paid wages on time last month, workers remain unhappy that their contributions to their pensions, medical aid schemes and other insurance have not been paid in since last October.Yesterday Town Clerk Agnes Limbo said the municipality was now actively implementing mechanisms suggested by the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing to boost its revenue.However, she said, residents were still not forthcoming in settling their accounts.”From the look of things, we’re getting better.We realise the mistakes we made.I think it became clear to council that what was going on was not an individual problem but a collective problem that we need to address as a team,” said Limbo.