TCL pensioners to march to OPM
Disgruntled former Tsumeb Corporation Limited mineworkers want a meeting with prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila in a last-ditch attempt to recover N$116 million from their former pension fund.
The group plan to march to the prime minister's office to ask her to help recover the N$116 million they claim to have lost.
The group, who are now squatting behind the Mineworkers Union of Namibia building in Katutura, have vowed to remain there, their spokesperson, Didhard Mparo, told Namibian Sun.
“We want to ask her how she can help us to get our money back,” Mparo said of their planned meeting with Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.
According to him, they have formally written to the office of the prime minister but have not received a response.
“We wrote to the prime minister looking to talk to her. We gave her up to Thursday last week but no one from the office of the prime minister has come back to us.
“Until we see the prime minister or the president we are not moving from where we are. I don't know up to when but we are not moving. Until we see them, we can't go back, we want them to see us and hear what she has to say.” According to him, this is the only option remaining for them. “They forced us to do this,” Mbaro maintained.
“Right now we are organising a march. We already spoke to the Namibian Police and they will help us facilitate the march,” he said ahead of the planned march.
The original TCL Pension Fund was created to provide retirement pensions, death and disability benefits for the mine's workers, and the company did not have access to this money.
In 1996, however, TCL apparently applied to the Registrar of Pension Funds to change the rules to the fund to allow it access to the money, and succeeded.
Then, between November 1996 and March 1998, the company withdrew all the money from this account, about N$116 million.
OGONE TLHAGE
The group plan to march to the prime minister's office to ask her to help recover the N$116 million they claim to have lost.
The group, who are now squatting behind the Mineworkers Union of Namibia building in Katutura, have vowed to remain there, their spokesperson, Didhard Mparo, told Namibian Sun.
“We want to ask her how she can help us to get our money back,” Mparo said of their planned meeting with Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.
According to him, they have formally written to the office of the prime minister but have not received a response.
“We wrote to the prime minister looking to talk to her. We gave her up to Thursday last week but no one from the office of the prime minister has come back to us.
“Until we see the prime minister or the president we are not moving from where we are. I don't know up to when but we are not moving. Until we see them, we can't go back, we want them to see us and hear what she has to say.” According to him, this is the only option remaining for them. “They forced us to do this,” Mbaro maintained.
“Right now we are organising a march. We already spoke to the Namibian Police and they will help us facilitate the march,” he said ahead of the planned march.
The original TCL Pension Fund was created to provide retirement pensions, death and disability benefits for the mine's workers, and the company did not have access to this money.
In 1996, however, TCL apparently applied to the Registrar of Pension Funds to change the rules to the fund to allow it access to the money, and succeeded.
Then, between November 1996 and March 1998, the company withdrew all the money from this account, about N$116 million.
OGONE TLHAGE
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