Natau takes on TransNamib

NAMIBIA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Natau) general secretary John Kwedhi has said that the union would protect not only its member’s interests but also the national interest despite intimidation from Festus Lameck, Chairperson of the TransNamib board of Directors
Kwedhi was speaking at a media conference in Windhoek on Tuesday, where Natau officially stated its position on the ongoing investigation into its president Dawid Tjombe.

Kwedhi confirmed that Tjombe had informed the media of ongoing discussions between Natau and TransNamib over contract employees, and at the same time questioned Lameck’s statement that the information was confidential.The general secretary said that the issue relating to contract employees had been on the agenda between Natau and TransNamib for a number of years, and that it was unfortunate for Lameck to only become aware of the issue when he was confronted by local media.Kwedhi said that TransNamib currently employs more that 240 contract employees plus a number of project workers, some of whom have been employed by the transport giant for eleven years without any benefits.Responding to a statement made by Lameck that Natau should not involve itself in affairs which is not its own and that TransNamib will not be held hostage by the union, Kwedhi said that ‘Natau has no limit when it comes to the protection of workers and national interest, come heaven or hell. Even if it is not part of our scope, but seen to be affecting our members and national interests, Natau will accordingly safeguard such interests’.He added that while ‘Lameck can intimidate comrade Tjombe because he speaks on worker-related issues, he must know that he will never silence the voice of the workers to speak out and bring corrupt practices to light’.Kwedhi also called on Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Director Paulus Noa to investigate a number of alleged corrupt practices at TransNamib.The unionist made reference to two managers who were found guilty by a disciplinary hearing where dismissal sanctions were recommended, but were overturned by the TransNamib board of directors.Kwedhi further called on the ACC Director to investigate a number of cases relating to TransNamib, such properties belonging to the transport parastatal in Grootfontein and Opuwo, its Gammams Training Centre in Windhoek, and the TransNamib board’s reversal of the dismissal of the two managers involved in the Quick Clearing Services deal.Also present at the media briefing was Alfred Angula, acting deputy secretary general of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) who said that TransNamib had targeted the head of Natau in an attempt to bring about the downfall of the union. Angula said that Natau was just doing its job in looking after the interests of its members and the nation in general.