{"id":49600,"date":"2023-07-18T12:34:48","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T12:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/ex-air-namibia-employees-seek-intervention-of-parliament"},"modified":"2023-07-18T12:45:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T12:45:46","slug":"ex-air-namibia-employees-seek-intervention-of-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/ex-air-namibia-employees-seek-intervention-of-parliament","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Air Namibia employees seek intervention of Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>THE Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources and Community Development held a consultative meeting with former employees of Air Namibia. The meeting follows two petitions received from disgruntled employees of the now-liquidated airline. The former employees want the committee to summon stakeholders to explain the delays in the payment of their severance packages, among other concerns.<\/p>\n

According to their representative, Renier Bougard, repeated attempts to seek an audience with stakeholders have not yielded any positive results. \u201cWe have followed all procedures for more than two years, but there is no help. We feel neglected. Honourable Minister Iipumbu said his office doors are open, but our numerous calls to his office seeking an appointment have been received with plentiful excuses. We request an urgent engagement with the Minister\u2019s office. We want the liquidators of Air Namibia to be summoned, as well as other stakeholders such as NAMFISA, Ministry of Justice, Master of the High Court, and Namra,\u201d he appealed.<\/p>\n

The petitioners were also unhappy that Parliament has not urgently looked at their plight despite receiving the initial petition and implored lawmakers to intervene as they have no other means of earning a living. \u201cThis petition is a follow-up on the first one submitted on the 22nd of November 2022. Due to bureaucracy, we have no choice but to host a peaceful demonstration again, to raise awareness about the injustice we have endured from the authority entrusted to serve the nation. We did not receive any tangible feedback regarding our petition for nearly 7 months, nor did we attend any hearing. We have only received part of our severance package and not the full amount as stipulated in our claims that were signed under oath. We ask Parliament to intervene so that we can resolve this matter urgently,\u201d read the petition.<\/p>\n

Among a host of issues, the ex-employees intend to discuss tax exemptions on their severance packages and a request for a 30% interest, reasoning that payment delays of more than two years have adversely affected them financially.<\/p>\n

The Chairperson of the committee, Hon. Nono Katjingisua, sympathized with the employees and explained that delays in dealing with the matter were not intentional and that petitions received by Parliament go through a process before they are submitted to the relevant committee for further action.<\/p>\n

Air Namibia was formally liquidated in 2021 due to significant debts of more than N$3 billion after the government, a sole shareholder, decided it could no longer sustain the airline. Over 600 employees were affected.<\/p>\n\r\n