Nantu plot thickens

NOW the recent bid to call an extraordinary meeting of the National Teachers’ Council (NTC) was allegedly made at the demand of some teachers, the organiser and Deputy Secretary of the Namibia National Teachers’ Union (Nantu) General Basilius Haingura claims.

Denying that he wrote letters to regional chairpersons, Haingura told The Namibian he attempted to arrange a meeting twice – allegedly on the instructions of some regional leaders. Haingura first tried to arrange an urgent special NTC meeting for May 13, when Nantu Secretary General Miriam Hamutenya was out of office.He was acting in her position.”The aim of the meeting was to have a post-mortem of the NUNW congress,” he said.Haingura said Nantu President Ndapewa Nghipandulwa knew about the meeting but it was called off after she informed him that she had urgent family matters to attend to.He tried to reschedule it for May 20 but Hamutenya called it off without any reason, he said.Hamutenya said she called off the second meeting because Haingura was not clear about the agenda.”We told him that there was no need for a meeting to discuss emotional political matters when teachers need us to tackle their problems.That is why he was organising the latest meeting without our knowledge,” she said.Haingura said his last attempt to arrange the meeting while Hamutenya was in office was because the “regional chairs continued calling to find out what has happened to the meeting”.”However, I advised them to put their request on paper and send it in, and should our fax machine not function, they should send it to any sister union where we will get it.This is the only thing I can confirm,” Haingura told The Namibian.Hamutenya said she confronted Haingura in a secretariat meeting on Wednesday afternoon about why he gave the regional chairpersons the fax number of the Namibia Public Workers’ Union (Napwu).”He said he gave it in case ours is not working.Why will ours not be working when we receive all other faxes? It has been working all along.God has His own way of doing things and the truth will always come out,” she said.Hamutenya and some others who attended the Nantu secretariat meeting on Wednesday afternoon told The Namibian that Haingura had distanced himself from recent Nantu statements which lambasted the NUNW congress.”He distanced himself from the statement issued by the President (Nghipandulwa) and said he wanted the NTC to discuss the issue,” Hamutenya said.Haingura told The Namibian that one regional chairperson suggested that they fax “to a sister union in case a problem might come up with the Nantu fax machine” but was unable to recall who it was.”I only responded to their request.I did not approach the people.They called me,” he maintained.Another person who attended a NUNW meeting with Haingura on Tuesday said he kept on giving people the Napwu fax number.”He was specific and did not say ‘fax to any sister union’,” said the source.Napwu President Elifas Dingara has distanced his union from the alleged plot to get rid of the two Nantu leaders, saying they had no right to interfere in the affairs of a sister union.He denied that he was part of a plot to oust Nghipandulwa and Hamutenya through a vote of no confidence at an NTC extraordinary meeting.It is an open secret that Haingura and Nantu Vice President Joseph Dinyando supported Napwu and the Namibia Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Nafau) at the recent National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) fourth congress, which Nantu labelled a farce because of alleged flawed implementation of rules.Some Nantu and Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia delegates walked out of the congress after repeated attempts to have their proposals heard were shot down and they were relegated to mere spectators.The two unions demanded clarity on the “real” reasons behind acting NUNW General Secretary Peter Naholo’s suspension but Napwu and Nafau refused to discuss the issue.NTC, the highest decision-making body of Nantu, met recently in Windhoek as they prepare for a congress in August.Haingura and Dinyando refused to walk out when Nantu protested at the congress and aligned themselves with Napwu.Haingura first tried to arrange an urgent special NTC meeting for May 13, when Nantu Secretary General Miriam Hamutenya was out of office. He was acting in her position.”The aim of the meeting was to have a post-mortem of the NUNW congress,” he said.Haingura said Nantu President Ndapewa Nghipandulwa knew about the meeting but it was called off after she informed him that she had urgent family matters to attend to.He tried to reschedule it for May 20 but Hamutenya called it off without any reason, he said.Hamutenya said she called off the second meeting because Haingura was not clear about the agenda.”We told him that there was no need for a meeting to discuss emotional political matters when teachers need us to tackle their problems.That is why he was organising the latest meeting without our knowledge,” she said.Haingura said his last attempt to arrange the meeting while Hamutenya was in office was because the “regional chairs continued calling to find out what has happened to the meeting”.”However, I advised them to put their request on paper and send it in, and should our fax machine not function, they should send it to any sister union where we will get it.This is the only thing I can confirm,” Haingura told The Namibian.Hamutenya said she confronted Haingura in a secretariat meeting on Wednesday afternoon about why he gave the regional chairpersons the fax number of the Namibia Public Workers’ Union (Napwu).”He said he gave it in case ours is not working.Why will ours not be working when we receive all other faxes? It has been working all along.God has His own way of doing things and the truth will always come out,” she said.Hamutenya and some others who attended the Nantu secretariat meeting on Wednesday afternoon told The Namibian that Haingura had distanced himself from recent Nantu statements which lambasted the NUNW congress.”He distanced himself from the statement issued by the President (Nghipandulwa) and said he wanted the NTC to discuss the issue,” Hamutenya said.Haingura told The Namibian that one regional chairperson suggested that they fax “to a sister union in case a problem might come up with the Nantu fax machine” but was unable to recall who it was.”I only responded to their request.I did not approach the people.They called me,” he maintained.Another person who attended a NUNW meeting with Haingura on Tuesday said he kept on giving people the Napwu fax number.”He was specific and did not say ‘fax to any sister union’,” said the source.Napwu President Elifas Dingara has distanced his union from the alleged plot to get rid of the two Nantu leaders, saying they had no right to interfere in the affairs of a sister union.He denied that he was part of a plot to oust Nghipandulwa and Hamutenya through a vote of no confidence at an NTC extraordinary meeting.It is an open secret that Haingura and Nantu Vice President Joseph Dinyando supported Napwu and the Namibia Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Nafau) at the recent National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) fourth congress, which Nantu labelled a farce because of alleged flawed implementation of rules.Some Nantu and Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia delegates walked out of the congress after repeated attempts to have their proposals heard were shot down and they were relegated to mere spectators.The two unions demanded clarity on the “real” reasons behind acting NUNW General Secretary Peter Naholo’s suspension but Napwu and Nafau refused to discuss the issue.NTC, the highest decision-making body of Nantu, met recently in Windhoek as they prepare for a congress in August.Haingura and Dinyando refused to walk out when Nantu protested at the congress and aligned themselves with Napwu.