THE congress of the Public Service Union of Namibia (PSUN) held at Outjo last weekend decided that the union’s new leadership should engage with Government to stamp out corruption, poverty and exclusivity.
The leaders elected – or re-elected in many instances – are /Awebahe //Hoëseb (president), Richard !Kharuxab (first vice president), Ralph Makgone (second vice president), Ignasia Neis (treasurer), and additional members Leonard Penda Hawanga, Bertha Tjitundje, and Elifas //Khoaseb. The union resolved to fight corruption and mismanagement, and to demand from Government that the culprits in the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) Development Capital Portfolio (DCP) scandal be brought to book. It wants all reports of forensic and presidential commissions of inquiry made public, and while the fight on corruption should intensify in all seriousness, it demands that national resources be equally distributed to all Namibians as far as mining and fishing rights, bursaries and board positions are concerned. Similarly, the PSUN wants Government to abolish ‘camping allowances’ for public servants to ensure that Regional Emergency Management Unit (REMU) employees have job security. Currently these REMU workers are being re-commissioned every year but they do not have any benefits or job security, said PSUN senior organiser Ujama Kahongoro.The PSUN, which estimates its membership at about 16 000, does not have a recognition agreement with Government, but demands to represent its members in disciplinary hearings, which is not allowed under the public service staff rules.According to these staff rules, said Kahongoro, unions are only allowed to sit in as observers at disciplinary hearings. Kahongoro claimed that the Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu), which has a recognition agreement with Government, agreed on the staff rules ‘in cahoots’ with Prime Minister Nahas Angula. ‘We think Napwu is selling out the workers. There is no way that you can engage in an agreement that will affect workers,’ Kahongoro said.’We will get our house in order and challenge Government to get a recognition agreement with us. We feel Napwu’s recognition status has expired because its membership has reduced.’ The union wants decent work to be a prerequisite for foreign direct investments in order to protect Namibian workers against exploitation by multinational companies.
