Nudo mulls court action over reserved jobs

OPPOSITION parties Nudo and the CoD have blasted the recent directive by the Office of the Prime Minister to reserve all entry-level vacancies in the civil service for approximately 10 000 Namibian youths who were born in exile during the liberation struggle, saying it is unconstitutional and urging Government to withdraw it.

‘We call on the Office of the Prime Minister to retract that directive with immediate effect – failing to do so will leave Nudo with no option but to seek urgent redress from a competent court,’ Nudo president Kuaima Riruako threatened.’We started consultations with other political parties this morning (Wednesday) to have a joint court action,’ Riruako told reporters at the Nudo headquarters at Katutura on Wednesday. He would not disclose which other parties would take part in the move to either seek a court interdict or to sue Government. Asked what time frame they would give the Office of the Prime Minister, he did not say.’Our Nudo party is convinced that this exclusive job reservation for the children born in exile is disadvantaging other young Namibians, who also deserve a chance to get employed. ‘It also contravenes Article 40 (k) of the Namibian Constitution, which stipulates that Cabinet must issue notices, instructions and directives to facilitate the implementation and administration of laws administered by the Executive, subject to the terms of the Constitution or any other law,’ Riruako said. The Cabinet directive, which was leaked to the media last week, caused strong reactions and comments from the public that Government should not reserve jobs for a small group.Riruako said judging by the public outcry, Namibians are disgusted with jobs being reserved for comrades and the Cabinet directive shows that ‘Namibia truly ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world’. Meanwhile, CoD Youth Secretary General Kalimbo Iipumbu has said the directive ‘smacks of apartheid’.’This problem of unemployment affects all youth across the board. struggle kid or no struggle kid. ‘We believe Government’s responsibility is to be all-inclusive and not to discriminate; not to choose a small group of noisy kids above the vast majority,’ Iipumbu said at a press conference yesterday. * Additional reporting by Jo-Maré Duddy