MD claims witch-hunt

The board of the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) has terminated the contracts of nine non-permanent staff at the parastatal in an alleged standoff between the board and the managing director, Imms Mulunga.

The affected staff members were informed that the board had adopted a resolution on 27 November, which stated that the termination of their contracts was due to “circumstances surrounding the validity” of their appointments.

Some had been appointed as recently as 1 November.

Mulunga, who made the appointments and was later forced to undersign the dismissal letters, said the board had made the decision unilaterally without providing any reasons.

Mulunga said he was advised by labour law consultant Frank Köpplinger that the dismissals were “not legal”.

He said he had taken up the matter with the lawyers and the Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu).

Those dismissed are Sam Hasheela, Karina Indongo, Elina Karlos, Reginalda Kennedy, Tuyenikelao Nangolo, Mwaka Zibiso, Sharon Kavita, Wenselaus Iita, and Elina Alweendo. Their employment at Namcor comes to an end today.

Some have sought legal advice but are not at liberty to discuss the matter due to a non-disclosure agreement they have with Namcor.

Board chairperson Patrick Kauta could not be reached for comment because he is out of the country.

Insiders preferring anonymity claimed that the appointments made by Mulunga did not appear on the organisational structure.

The insiders further claimed that Mulunga had appointed friends and close allies, saying the appointments were devoid of any professional considerations.

“There are even two secretaries in Mulunga's office,” one source said, and added: “At the rate he [Mulunga] was going on, appointing people without going through structures, it was open to further abuse. The current board is very strong on good governance.”

The sources claimed that Mulunga had made the appointments without advertising the positions or interviewing the candidates.

They further claimed that Mulunga's appointees strictly reported to him and him alone.

Mulunga countered that a draft policy on non-permanent employment allows him to employ staff without having advertised the positions first.

He said the only mistake was that the human resources department had stated on the contracts that the appointments were for a fixed term instead of stipulating that they would be temporary.





“From a humanitarian point of view, this is December and you put people out on the street instead of merely looking at the employment policy and re-doing the contracts. The intention was that they would be employed on a temporary basis,” Mulunga said.

He said he had made the appointments because Namcor intended to enter the petroleum retail market.

“The board is conducting a functional review with the objective to see if our current strategy is meeting our ambitions,” he said, adding: “These people [his appointees] are helping the company because there is a need for them.”

He said the appointments only affect two departments at Namcor.

Mulunga said the positions were terminated because staff in the commercial business unit “do not want others to work with them”.

“They do not want others to come into the company and ran to the minister. The company is no longer run on the basis of submissions made by management to the board but from submissions made from outside,” he said.

Mulunga said there were elements within the company who wanted to make his five-year term of office “ungovernable”.

He was employed as Namcor's MD in October 2015 after Obeth Kandjoze's departure to take up the position of minister of mines and energy.

“Everything I do is being reported to the minister,” Mulunga said, adding that Kandjoze did not want him in that position.

There has been an open display of animosity between Mulunga and Kandjoze since February 2016 when the minister had asked Mulunga to relinquish the position after details regarding his marriage and consultation with Malawian “prophet” Shepherd Bushiri became public.

Kandjoze would not respond to the personalised allegations, and merely responded: “[I] do not have much to say except to remind everyone that Namibia is a country set in the culture of the rule of law and strong governance. It is now common course that such governance principles are highly respected principles in our democratic dispensation and those who, by their own accord, choose to make a mockery to same should refrain from using my name in that manner.”

Kandjoze advised Mulunga to direct all such matters to the Namcor board “for the minister does not involve himself in trivia as is alleged”.

CATHERINE SASMAN