President Hage Geingob has decided to cancel his overseas state visits to Jamaica and the Republic of Cuba in order to attend to the potential civil servants strike as a pressing domestic matter.

Press Secretary in the Presidency, Dr Alfredo Hengari, said this in a media statement issued Monday evening.

“In light of the unfortunate decision by the civil servants inside the bargaining unit to vote in favour of an ill-conceived strike, the President has decided to cancel his overseas state visits to the two countries,” he said.

Hengari said the president does not travel for the sake of it, but does so at the invitation of other heads of states and governments, as well as multilateral institutions and international organisations such as the United Nations, African Union and the Southern African Development Community.

Geingob was expected to be in Jamaica from 04 to 08 August 2022, where he was to be a guest of honour at the 60th anniversary celebrations of the independence of Jamaica.

He was also going to address a special session of the Jamaican parliament.

Geingob’s visit to the Republic of Cuba was going to take place from 08 to 12 August 2022, where he was to receive the Order of Jose Julien Marti, the highest national honour, Hengari added.

Furthermore on the potential civil servants’ strike, the Presidency said an impression was created that the Namibian Government did not offer anything.

“On the contrary, the government’s negotiating team presented a new offer which increases the total value of the benefits on housing and transport from the initial offer of N.dollars 266 million to N.dollars 335 million,” the Press Secretary added.

Hengari said it was reiterated to both the Namibia Public Workers Union and the Namibia National Teachers Union that the offer takes effect from the 2022/23 financial year (01 April 2022).

Source: The Namibian Press Agency