Denver Kisting
23 May 2011
TELECOM Namibia employees, especially those in non-management positions, are on the warpath.
Namibia Public Workers’ Union (Napwu) branch chairman Jacob Ramoswaane on Friday charged they are fed-up with being “taken for a ride”.
He said they are particularly upset that “those general managers who have been mismanaging Telecom Namibia for the past five years are the only ones appointed into these (the new restructured) positions”.
According to Ramoswaane, Telecom Namibia is not a “cuca shop company” and it was established “to implement the Swapo party manifesto in terms of job creation”.
Instead, Napwu claims, the lower-level employees continue to lose out.
The contention revolves around large-scale restructuring plans which managing director Frans Ndoroma announced last November.
Ndoroma then said that the company’s executive management would be slashed from twelve to five and that positions would be advertised both internally and externally.
Ramoswaane on Friday lashed out at the selection process, saying “apparently there has been no successful candidates from outside and those GMs who have been mismanaging Telecom Namibia for the past five years are the only ones appointed into these positions”.
One such an appointment was that of incumbent general manager: finance and administration, Robert Offner, as chief financial officer (CFO).
Offner, who is not a chartered accountant (CA), was awarded the position despite it being an explicit requirement.
Telecom spokesperson Oiva Angula earlier admitted that Offner did not comply with all requirements. He claimed that fears for a lawsuit forced the company to bend the job requirements.
Angula claimed the only CA who applied for the position “was an internal expatriate candidate who was shortlisted but withdrew from the interview process and was therefore not interviewed”.
Following a story in The Namibian about this, a candidate informed the newspaper that he had also applied for the CFO position and is a qualified CA. He said he was not shortlisted for the job.
Angula never responded to a written enquiry about this.
On Thursday, senior customer contact manager Percy Tjahere, was suspended with immediate effect for allegedly leaking information to the media.
Acting chief human resources officer Andrew Kanime informed Tjahere that he needed to “deliver your access keys and all property of Telecom Namibia with immediate effect to your line manager. Whilst on suspension you are not permitted to enter company premises”.
Tjahere was warned that “should you fail to comply with any of the above provisions, you may be subjecting yourself to further charges”.
Ramoswaane said Napwu condemns the intimidation of employees who liaise with the media. “This action of top management is the same action of the apartheid regime.”
They threatened to take “unspecified action against Telecom Namibia” should suspended employees not be reinstated immediately. “We shall no more condone management’s arrogant behaviour to run Telecom Namibia as their shebeens or cuca shops”.
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Tension Mounts at Telecom