Africa-Press – Namibia. AFFIRMATIVE Repositioning movement leader Job Amupanda says the labour ministry has delayed the registration of the Revolutionary Union (RU) after taking issue with words such as “militant” and “revolutionary” in their constitution.
The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation spokesperson, Anna Salkeus, said they will respond to the range of allegations made by AR today.
During a media briefing yesterday, Amupanda said they decided to establish the RU to champion and assist the struggling working class in Namibia.
“Our legal team and the assigned activists moved swiftly to attend to the registration of RU as provided for by the Labour Act.
As soon as we discovered, through a tip-off, that the regime has decided not to allow RU to register, we resolved to attend to all concerns the labour commissioner may raise with us,” he said.
Amupanda said after they addressed all the concerns from the ministry, the minister decided that the RU application is seeking to register in too many sectors.
“This is despite the labour law making provision for the applicant to indicate the “sector”or “sectors” the union will operate in.
We refused to budge on this score,” he said.
Amupanda said the labour commissioner sat on their application for the whole of 2021, saying they are seeking legal opinion on the matter.
“We also learnt that the attorney general gave a legal opinion on the matter that affirms our position that our application to register in those sectors is in line with the law,” he said.
Amupanda said despite the attorney general’s opinion, the labour commissioner still refused to register RU and AR and took the application before the Labour Court to challenge the irregularities.
“We are confident that despite these shenanigans and political delays, RU will very soon register and the working class will be liberated. The fact that the regime decided to reject even the advice of its constitutional adviser, the attorney general, is indicative of the thunderous RU fear that has captivated the regime,” he said.
Amupanda urged all workers in Namibia to remain resolute as it is a matter of time before RU is registered.
“It will be a long but sweet victory on behalf of the exploited workers in our country,” he said.
Labour commissioner Henri Cassen denied the allegations and said AR did not comply with the regulations.
“It (AR) did not comply with the requirements for registration as per the Labour Act 2007.
The matter is under consideration and they are invited for consultations on the matter,” he said.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
