By Edgar Brandt
WINDHOEK – The secretary general of the Namibia Bank and Allied Workers Union (NBWU), Lawrence Ihuhua, has asked FNB Namibia to provide proof that the union, which sits on the bank’s Affirmative Action (AA) Committtee, actually participated in discussions before an AA report was submitted to the Employment Equity Commission (EEC).
This is after the CEO of the FNB Group in Namibia, Ian Leyenaar, insisted that the union did indeed provide input before the AA report was submitted.
Last week the union alleged FNB Namibia submitted the report to the EEC without the bank’s entire AA Committee’s input. “We deny this allegation as devoid of all truth. In compliance with the Act, FNB established an Affirmative Action Committee to facilitate consultations.
The AA Committee includes members of the union and others as per section 24 of the Act and records are kept as per Section 26. The union, as part of the internal AA Committee, was present and participated in deliberations regarding the content of the report and did not raise the concerns during the said deliberations,” stated Leyenaar late last week.
However, Ihuhua was adamant he and his co-committee members did not meet at all regarding the bank’s AA report. “I talked to my co-committee members about it and everyone agreed that we did not discuss FNB Namibia’s AA report in a meeting with the bank,” said a clearly agitated Ihuhua. “I don’t even know what that report looks like,” he charged.
However, Leyenaar hit back at the union, saying: “We would not have remained the leading bank in the county if we did not uphold the letter and spirit of the country’s laws.”
He added that FNB Namibia currently employs 1 829 people of whom 1 587 are previously disadvantaged, representing a total of 86.7 percent of the workforce. Of these 1 170 are female employees with only four being non-Namibian staff members. The previously disadvantaged make up 54 percent of all managers, explained Leyenaar.
FNB Namibia’s CEO continued that of the 16 Exco members, seven are female and six are previously disadvantaged, while two of the five area managers are previously disadvantaged as well 16 of the 27 branch managers, of whom 11 are female.
Ihuhua last week charged that FNB Namibia, which is the largest bank in the country in terms of assets, is discriminatory particularly when it comes to senior positions in the bank that Ihuhua says are mostly occupied by whites.
“FNB is always failing to advertise strategic managerial positions because they do not want local blacks to apply,” said Ihuhua.
“FNB follows world class employment practices, which also covers recruitment procedures. Hence, we also deny the allegation that all senior and strategic positions are filled without advertising and request anyone with information to the contrary to submit such. There are individual instances where the business requires the appointment of specialists to protect huge investments and where skill shortages require immediate action. One such appointment is the project leader that must protect our investment of more than N$435 million in the new FNB building in Namibia,” remarked Leyenaar.