Ex-Samherji employees demand compensation

A group of 252 former Namibian employees of Icelandic fishing giant Samherji has formally demanded accountability and compensation, nearly seven years after they were summarily retrenched in the wake of Namibia’s explosive Fishrot corruption scandal.

In a letter dated 2 March 2026 and addressed to Samherji CEO Baldvin Thorsteinsson, law firm Metcalfe Attorneys & Notaries confirmed it is acting on behalf of all 252 workers who were employed by Samherji and its affiliated companies operating under Saga Seafood in Namibia.

The workers were let go in December 2019 and January 2020 after revelations surfaced alleging Samherji’s deep involvement in high-level corruption in Namibia’s fishing sector.

The letter said the staff were “summarily retrenched” when Samherji ceased operations in Namibia and withdrew to Iceland as the corruption claims unfolded.

Each worker reportedly received a once-off severance payment of N$10 000 – roughly €530 at the time – regardless of years of service.

The lawyers argue that no consideration was given to statutory notice periods, length of employment or proper severance requirements under Namibian labour laws.

The legal representatives describe the payout as a “paltry” sum that failed to reflect the workers’ tenure or legal entitlements.

The employees’ lawyers criticise what they describe as rhetoric around retributive justice and victim compensation, arguing that little has materialised for those directly affected by the fallout.

How Fishrot unravelled

The Fishrot scandal first came to international attention in November 2019, when WikiLeaks published thousands of internal Samherji documents and communications, which came to be known as the ‘Fishrot files’.

These files indicated that the company had paid significant sums to senior Namibian officials and political figures to secure lucrative horse mackerel fishing quotas in violation of proper procedures, contributing to its dominant share of quota allocations in the country.

The revelations prompted immediate political fallout in Namibia. On 13 November 2019, former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau and his justice counterpart Sacky Shanghala resigned after allegations of involvement.

The two ministers – alongside several business executives and other associates – have since been arrested, charged with fraud, racketeering and corruption related to Fishrot.

Samherji’s operations, including its local subsidiary Saga Seafood, ceased operations in Namibia and its vessels left Namibian waters.

Court documents prepared by the Office of the Prosecutor‑General allege that Samherji benefited unlawfully from the scheme to the tune of at least N$547 million through access to Namibia’s fishing quotas and related payments routed to local entities linked to implicated officials.

Samherji has denied wrongdoing related to the Fishrot allegations.

Although several arrests were made in Namibia following the corruption revelations, extradition applications involving individuals in South Africa and Iceland were rejected on legal grounds.

However, the criminal proceedings – largely centred on corruption charges – have yet to commence trial proceedings, despite entering their seventh year.

‘Collateral damage’ of corruption

The workers say they have become the true victims of the scandal.

While the Namibian government introduced a Government Employment Redress Programme (GERP) to assist affected fishermen, the intervention has provided only temporary relief. Under the programme, companies allocated horse mackerel quotas are required to employ the retrenched workers.

But according to the legal letter, this arrangement has resulted in precarious employment dependent on quota allocations, with some companies allegedly failing to pay salaries and exploiting the workers’ vulnerability.

The lawyers argue that the retrenched employees have effectively become “collateral damage” in a scandal that they did not engineer.

Call for restitution

The letter further points out that assets belonging to accused individuals were attached and that the fishing vessel Heinaste was sold.

However, no compensation mechanism for the former employees has been implemented.

Seven years on, many of the workers remain unemployed or in unstable positions, facing what their lawyers describe as “abject poverty and destitution”.

The legal representatives maintain that the workers’ rights to dignity and livelihood have been eroded and that meaningful restitution has yet to materialise, despite the scale of the scandal and its economic consequences.

It remains unclear whether Samherji will formally respond to the demands. 

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