New board for Meatco

Members of Meatco last week nominated their candidates for the new board of directors even though the Special Members Meeting that was scheduled to take place was postponed.
The meeting that was set to take place last week Friday at Wanderers Sport Club in Windhoek was postponed an hour before it was to take place, causing frustration among farmers - some who had travelled long distances to attend.
Meatco says its chairperson Martha Namundjebu-Tilahun postponed the meeting during which the board nomination would have taken place.
The company says in a statement that although the nominations process was set in motion by its former line ministry, that of agriculture, on 4 July this year, Meatco was in the meantime re-classified to resort under the Ministry of Public Enterprises as from 17 July.
Therefore per advice of the two ministers the board nomination process was postponed until further notice.
Meanwhile members of Meatco were informed that there was still time to convene another members’ meeting for nominations as this meeting should be convened within 60 days from the date that the chairperson receives a request from the minister.
The 60 days only expires on 4 September.
The members were however of the view that the reason provided by the chair to postpone the meeting was not sound because in law the change in the reporting lines will not change the nomination process.
Members also posted several questions that the board was unable to respond to. For example the board was unable to provide a timeline in terms of when the relevant laws will be amended that will empower Minister of Public Enterprises Leon Jooste with the mandate to appoint the Meatco board.
Furthermore the members stated that the chair should have convened the special members meeting and then brought a formal motion to postpone the meeting. Such a motion would then have been voted on by members.
The members were therefore of the view that since it was a members meeting and the chairperson is merely a convenor of such, the members were mandated to proceed with the meeting seeing that they had a quorum.
The members nominated former board member Diethelm Metzger to chair the meeting. The following persons were chosen as board members - Harold Erasmus, Matina Mokgathele Aukhumes, Ignesia Murangi, Amon Ngavetene, Martin Hilbert, Clara Bohitile, Oliver Hortshemke, Milka Mungunda. The last four nominees were chosen as expert board members while the nominees represent commercial and communal farmers.
Meatco says that after the nomination candidates indicated that the names of the nominees would be hand-delivered to the ministers of agriculture and public enterprises.
The term of the current Meatco board expires on 3 October.

STAFF REPORTER