May Day ‘boycott’ denied

CONFUSION surrounds a May Day event held at Oniingo on Saturday after a number of Regional Councillors appeared to snub the event, and Foreign Minister Hidipo Hamutenya did not give the keynote address as planned.

Some Regional Councillors from Oshikoto, Omusati and Oshana complained that they had not been told that the rally would be addressed by “a political figure such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs”. Others accused the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) of hijacking the event.A programme sent to the media and other institutions well ahead of time clearly stated that the Governor of the Oshikoto Region, Vilho Kamanya, would give the welcome and that Minister Hamutenya would be the main speaker, followed by NUNW President Risto Kapenda and acting Secretary General Peter Naholo.The crowd was comprised largely of workers taking part in construction work on the Tsumeb-Oshikango Railway Project.Also, workers and local community members had been notified weeks beforehand.Governors and Councillors from different regions had over the previous week, kept on announcing the event and many people had been transported to Oniingo so that they could start work early on Friday.When the Minister arrived at the site, as scheduled, some of the councillors left before he could address the workers.Hamutenya departed, but returned later and had discussions with a number of groups.Approached for comment, Hamutenya said he had been invited to Oniingo to address the workers.However, after he arrived at the site, he had heard talk that the workers were tired as they had started working early that morning.Asked why he had left the site before the meeting started, Hamutenya said he had had another important appointment at Ondangwa and had gone there.When he returned, the Minister said, he found that NUNW President Risto Kapenda had already addressed the workers.The Governor of Oshikoto, Vilho Kamanya, didn’t join the meeting although he was close to the tent where it took place.The Governor of Omusati and his councillors also kept their distance A reliable source told The Namibian that some councillors allegedly said that they did not want to be addressed by Hamutenya and it would be better if they were addressed by Higher Education Minister Nahas Angula.The Governor of Oshana, Klemens Kashuupulwa, and the Governor of Ohangwena, Billy Mwaningange, did not attend the May Day proceedings.Mwaningange told The Namibian on Monday that he had had another important appointment and was unable to attend the May Day celebrations.Mwaningange said that his office had, by Friday, not yet received notice that there would be a rally let alone that it was to be addressed by Minister Hamutenya.”All that we were told was to organise and co-ordinate the workers and community members and to bring them to the site to work there on their day.”Mwaningange categorically denied that they had boycotted the event.The programme was drawn up by the NUNW.The Governor of the Omusati Region, Sackey Kayone, also claimed he had not been notified of the rally and of the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ speech.Kayone said that Omusati Region had brought more than 3 500 people to work on the project and accused the union of “hijacking our idea”.Omusati, followed by Oshana, originally come up with the idea of working on the railway and celebrating May Day at the same time.”The NUNW just jumped in and hijacked the whole thing from us and even came up with a badly organised programme for the day,” Kayone claimed.He added that they had not boycotted the rally, as some claimed, but were just not happy with the organisation by the union.The Namibian could not reach Governor Vilho Kamanya nor Governor Klemens Kashuupulwa, but was told that Kashuupulwa had been unable to attend because of official commitments.Others accused the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) of hijacking the event.A programme sent to the media and other institutions well ahead of time clearly stated that the Governor of the Oshikoto Region, Vilho Kamanya, would give the welcome and that Minister Hamutenya would be the main speaker, followed by NUNW President Risto Kapenda and acting Secretary General Peter Naholo.The crowd was comprised largely of workers taking part in construction work on the Tsumeb-Oshikango Railway Project.Also, workers and local community members had been notified weeks beforehand.Governors and Councillors from different regions had over the previous week, kept on announcing the event and many people had been transported to Oniingo so that they could start work early on Friday.When the Minister arrived at the site, as scheduled, some of the councillors left before he could address the workers.Hamutenya departed, but returned later and had discussions with a number of groups.Approached for comment, Hamutenya said he had been invited to Oniingo to address the workers.However, after he arrived at the site, he had heard talk that the workers were tired as they had started working early that morning.Asked why he had left the site before the meeting started, Hamutenya said he had had another important appointment at Ondangwa and had gone there.When he returned, the Minister said, he found that NUNW President Risto Kapenda had already addressed the workers.The Governor of Oshikoto, Vilho Kamanya, didn’t join the meeting although he was close to the tent where it took place.The Governor of Omusati and his councillors also kept their distance A reliable source told The Namibian that some councillors allegedly said that they did not want to be addressed by Hamutenya and it would be better if they were addressed by Higher Education Minister Nahas Angula.The Governor of Oshana, Klemens Kashuupulwa, and the Governor of Ohangwena, Billy Mwaningange, did not attend the May Day proceedings.Mwaningange told The Namibian on Monday that he had had another important appointment and was unable to attend the May Day celebrations.Mwaningange said that his office had, by Friday, not yet received notice that there would be a rally let alone that it was to be addressed by Minister Hamutenya.”All that we were told was to organise and co-ordinate the workers and community members and to bring them to the site to work there on their day.”Mwaningange categorically denied that they had boycotted the event.The programme was drawn up by the NUNW.The Governor of the Omusati Region, Sackey Kayone, also claimed he had not been notified of the rally and of the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ speech.Kayone said that Omusati Region had brought more than 3 500 people to work on the project and accused the union of “hijacking our idea”.Omusati, followed by Oshana, originally come up with the idea of working on the railway and celebrating May Day at the same time.”The NUNW just jumped in and hijacked the whole thing from us and even came up with a badly organised programme for the day,” Kayone claimed.He added that they had not boycotted the rally, as some claimed, but were just not happy with the organisation by the union.The Namibian could not reach Governor Vilho Kamanya nor Governor Klemens Kashuupulwa, but was told that Kashuupulwa had been unable to attend because of official commitments.