Rally for Democracy and Progress leader Mike Kavekotora, has tabled a motion in the National Assembly to discuss and interrogate issues that led to the strike at the Namibian Broadcasting Cooperation (NBC) and its subsequent implications.
Kavekotora made the proposal on Tuesday, suggesting that it be referred to a relevant parliamentary committee for further investigations.
He said that over the years NBC as a public enterprise faced many challenges in achieving its overarching objectives, due to financial constraints, liquidity, political influence and the going concern issues threatening the institution’s survival, to which the Auditor General consistently informed the government that financial statements of NBC do not give a true and fair view of the financial position of the institution.
“The Auditor General all along warned the government that unless remedial actions are taken, NBC could collapse. That is what the auditors expressed when they raised the issue,” said Kavekotora.
He added that amidst all the negative outlooks and in the absence of mitigating intervention, top management allocated N.dollars 5.4 million payouts to themselves that led to a devastating strike by the workers. It was “mindboggling” that notwithstanding the financial challenges faced by the corporation, government did nothing to block the payout to top management.
“To date that N.dollars 5.4 million has not been properly accounted for. One dares to ask, was this payout a performance bonus or was it indeed part of management conditions of employment? Where did the money come from and how was it approved by a board that was recently appointed?”
Kavekotora further added that NBC workers who went on strike went through “hell to say the least” as it is alleged that deductions from workers’ salaries have been ongoing and some workers’ take-home pay has been in the negative while others were left with a mere N.dollars 300 per month as disposable income.
The NBC employees went on strike in May this year demanding an 8 per cent salary increase, as well as an increase in transport, accommodation and medical aid allowances. The ‘no work, no pay’ strike lasted for three weeks.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
