Rival taxi unions threaten Nghimtina

Two rival taxi unions have called on President Hifikepunye Pohamba and the Prime Minister Hage Geingob to call Minister of Works of Transport Erkki Nghimtina to order. This follows the minister saying on Tuesday that he only recognises the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (Nabta) as the legally mandated representative of taxi drivers and not the Namibia Transport and Taxi Union (NTTU) and Namibia Public Passenger Transport Association (NPPTA). During a joint media conference yesterday, NTTU and NPPTA said the minister's statement “has opened a can of worms he will regret” and called on Pohamba and Geingob to intervene. They said further that Nghimtina's statement was “totally irresponsible” and did not reflect the present context in the taxi industry. NPPTA secretary-general Nathan Africa said Nghimtina is encouraging chaos in the industry as Nabta officials claim they alone govern the taxi industry and now it has emerged where this thinking stems from. “Even though the majority of (taxi) operators are members of NPPTA the minister has been brainwashed by Nabta to believe all the lies and misinformation that they only themselves believe. In 2010, at Rundu, the same minister also stated that he cannot get involved in issues pertaining to the association,” Africa said. He asked on what basis the minister recognised Nabta if there is no Act or regulation prescribing this. He said the minister's statement this week proves that all NPPTA's efforts to co-operate with government to bring about change and contribute to the betterment of the taxi industry had gone unnoticed by Nghimtina. He said NPPTA has been addressing issues relating to public passenger transport with the Directorate of Transport and has also been involved and made positive contributions to workshops held to address the situation in public passenger transport sector. Africa said that in contrast, Nabta officials have during various occasions walked out of workshops and meetings - demanded that they be called off. He said they have requested a meeting with the ministry on several occasions and have not received a response. He said Namibia's taxi industry is suffering from neglect and government is not doing enough to help it flourish and provide a quality service to the industry. NTTU president Werner Januarie said they see the saga as a tribal and political issue, simply because Nabta members like to show off which political party they belong to and they are all from the same tribe. He said his union has a certificate from the Labour Commissioner and therefore should be recognised. NTTU held a meeting this week with the National Assembly's (NA) Standing Committee on the Constitutional and Legal Affairs.