Govt officials take N$11.8m S&T claim to labour

Eleven employees of the agriculture and land reform ministry have lodged an N$11.88 million subsistence allowance claim with the labour commissioner's office, accusing the ministry of leaving them in limbo for years after deploying them to Rundu despite their appointment letters identifying Nkurenkuru as their official duty station.In their summary of the dispute that was submitted to the labour commissioner, dated 16 July and seen by this publication, the employees say they were verbally instructed to report to the ministry's division of lands office in Rundu but were never given written instructions changing their duty station.They also say they never provided written consent to such a change.Nkurenkuru is situated 120 km from Rundu.The employees, initially part of a group of 16 pursuing the claim, say repeated attempts to resolve the dispute internally – including a 2024 submission to senior ministry officials and a legal demand issued earlier this year – failed to produce a response. Only 11 employees are listed as signatories to the latest dispute.They are claiming between approximately N$857 402 and N$1.29 million each, arguing that they were entitled to daily subsistence allowances for the periods they worked in Rundu because their appointment letters continued to identify Nkurenkuru as their duty station.The dispute was first raised internally in June 2024, when the division’s deputy director, Justine Milinga, submitted a memorandum to then executive director Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata seeking daily subsistence allowance compensation for employees working outside their designated duty station.The memorandum was circulated to senior ministry officials but, according to the employees, produced no response.“Despite these efforts, no response or feedback was received from the ministry regarding the request,” the summary of dispute states.With the matter unresolved, some of the employees instructed Bernhard Tjatjara &amp; Co. Incorporated Legal Practitioners to intervene. The law firm sent a formal letter of demand to the executive director on 25 February, but the employees say this also went unanswered.Their claim schedule calculates the allowances using the former daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rate of N$709 per day and the newer rate of N$1 318 per day. Of the N$11.88 million claimed, approximately N$4.86 million is calculated at the former rate, while N$7.02 million is based on the newer rate.The claims cover different periods, with the earliest beginning in October 2022 and extending to June or July 2026, depending on the employee.The 11 signatories have authorised one of their colleagues to lodge the dispute and represent them in proceedings under the Labour Act.Back and forthDeputy executive director responsible for the ministry’s agriculture, land reform, resettlement and regional programme implementation division, Petrus Nangolo, said the circumstances surrounding the employees’ deployment to Rundu predated his tenure.Nangolo said he was not heading the division when the employees were recruited and did not send them to Rundu, adding that he found the Rundu structure already in place when he took over.“I do not know what type of arrangements they have arranged with each other for these colleagues to end up in Rundu,” Nangolo said, adding that officials who were in charge at the time should be approached to establish what had been agreed.He said the ministry later secured office space in Nkurenkuru and that he instructed Milinga to ensure that staff attached to the region moved from Kavango East to their designated duty station.“The office was already secured,” Nangolo said, explaining that the move was intended to prevent staff from commuting between Rundu and Nkurenkuru and ensure services were delivered closer to communities.Nangolo alleged that Milinga deliberately ignored the instruction in an apparent attempt to increase the employees’ allowance claims.He said he had also seen the DSA claim but was reluctant to comment on arrangements made before his tenure. He added that he understood the previous acting executive director may have met with the affected employees in Rundu earlier this year to discuss the matter.On the employees’ claim that their earlier submissions went unanswered, Nangolo said he had not seen a formal request addressed specifically to his office and stressed that official ministry correspondence should be directed to the executive director.“If they wrote their letter for their S&amp;T, even all together, it is supposed not to be addressed to the deputy executive director, even if I am attached,” he said.Not readyMilinga, the ministry’s divisional head for Kavango West, told Namibian Sun that Nangolo’s allegation that he deliberately delayed the employees’ relocation to prolong their DSA claims was false.“That’s not true,” Milinga said, explaining that the division had been trying to facilitate a smooth transition from Kavango East to Kavango West without adversely affecting staff.He said the first correspondence instructing the employees to move to Nkurenkuru was received in January 2026 and that the relocation could not happen immediately because arrangements had to be made for the employees and their families.“Some people had their kids going to school. So we struggled, in actual fact, we struggled to make these arrangements,” Milinga said.He said staff also needed time to notify landlords in Rundu and make rental arrangements in Nkurenkuru, while other practical issues had to be resolved before the relocation could take place.Milinga said some of the initial instructions were premature because the Nkurenkuru office was not adequately equipped to accommodate the employees.“By then, when we were informed, we didn’t have furniture, we were not told as to how we were going to operate,” he said, adding that the division had raised these concerns with the executive director’s office.“How do we relocate just to come and sit on the floor?” he said. “We said no, we cannot operate on the floor.”The employees say they are waiting for a response from the labour commissioner’s office on the date of their first hearing.

Govt officials take N$11.8m S&T claim to labour

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-09-18

Please login to leave a comment

Govt officials take N$11.8m S&T claim to labour

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-09-18

Please login to leave a comment

Subscription Required to Access Content ×

Login

Subscription Required to Access Content