By Frederick Philander
WINDHOEK
Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) employees staged a protest march on Friday demanding the summary removal of the national broadcaster’s top management.
The workers, accusing the management of being oblivious to their plight, have issued a two-week ultimatum for the NBC to respond to their demands before taking industrial action.
More than 50 disgruntled employees marched at the NBC Headquarters, where a formal petition of their demands, calling the national broadcaster a ‘sinking ship’, was handed over to Director General, Bob Kandetu.
“We need a change of management as well as a Government bail out to redress previous wrongs and to be able to capably run the NBC in a profitable way. Why has the Government abandoned us in this?”
The protesting NBC employees have voluntarily offered their expertise to help rectify the situation at the institution.
The document also charged that communication between workers and management has come to a standstill. The workers claimed they have not received any salary increments for the past three years.
“This salary backlog contributes to the worsening of the living conditions of the employees and lowers the NBC workforce’s morale.
When last were benefits such as housing allowances reviewed and adjusted to keep track with current market trends?
Workers do not have accommodation, while NBC properties to provide such accommodation lie idle and are deteriorating,” said one aggrieved member of staff.
Kandetu promised that NBC would respond to the workers’ demands shortly.
The staff further accuses the NBC of disinterest in keeping the national broadcaster operative.
“The NBC management does not take workers’ concerns seriously and does not address them at all. Furthermore, company policies and corporate procedures are outdated and need to be adjusted to current times.
“Also, the exodus of experienced, skilled and qualified personnel from the NBC continues unabated as though the NBC management has no interest in keeping the national broadcaster functional,” the workers said.
The petition also demanded that NBC immediately stop an alleged witch-hunt levelled against innocent and hard-working personnel.
“These ‘unprocedural’ inquiries and unnecessary hearings, which are conducted by people who are not mandated to do so do not serve the interest of the company and are unacceptable. Is the NBC appointing the right people to help us out of this mess?” the workers demanded to know.
The staff alleged that NBC technical equipment, tools and vehicles are in a state of decay, are falling apart and that negatively affects duties and work performances.
“We want to take to task those responsible for criminal contracts such as the one between the NBC and the company, United Africa, which is crippling our already dysfunctional fleet of vehicles. We also want to know what happened to the income and/or revenue from the Alienation scheme of the NBC,” the staff inquired in the petition.