By Edgar Brandt
WINDHOEK – Secretary General of the Namibia Bank and Allied Workers Union (NBAWU), Lawrence Ihuhua, yesterday said he learned “with shock and dismay” that First National Bank Namibia forwarded its Affirmative Action report to the Employment Equity Commission (EEC) without the input of the union and other committee members.
“I was surprised to hear that the AA report was submitted. We want the EEC to send back that report,” charged a clearly agitated Ihuhua. He said as a member of FNB Namibia’s Affirmative Action Committee he and other members of the committee need to approve the AA report before it is submitted to the EEC. “The union, being part of the AA committee, distances itself from the information that was forwarded to the Employment Equity Commission and is calling on the EEC not to consider the report, provided that some blacks are placed in senior strategic positions,” Ihuhua demanded yesterday.
FNB Namibia however hit back saying it abides by the laws of the land and supports the goals of employment equity. Head of the bank’s human resources department, Florentia Amuenje, said the bank has worked ‘diligently’ towards increasing the number of previously disadvantaged Namibians across the organization and at all levels. She explained that FNB Namibia currently employs 1 829 people of which 1 587 are previously disadvantaged individuals, representing a total of 86.7 percent of its workforce. Of these employees 1 170 are female employees with only four non-Namibian staff members. However, just over half (54 percent) of all managers at FNB are classified as previously disadvantaged. “The allegation that FNB submitted the AA report without the union’s input is denied. The union is part of the internal AA committee and was present and participated in deliberations regarding the content of the report,” Amuenje said.
Ihuhua however went on to charge FNB Namibia with discrimination, particularly when it comes to filling senior positions in the bank, which 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.” He also called on government institutions and all parastatals to stop banking with FNB Namibia until they comply with the country’s Affirmative Action legislation.
Namibia’s Affirmative Action Act was passed by Parliament in 1998 with a view to redressing imbalances in the workplace, arising from the discriminatory socio-economic dispensation which had previously existed in the country. The legislation is intended to foster fair employment practices with regard to matters such as recruitment, selection, appointment, training, promotion, and equitable remuneration for previously disadvantaged people – more particularly, previously racially disadvantaged people, women and people with disabilities, referred to as designated groups in the Act.
The Act is also very specific about requirements, which must be met by employers to whom its provisions apply. Chief amongst the requirements is the drafting of a three year affirmative action plan in close consultation with employees, which is submitted in the form of an Affirmative Action report to the Employment Equity Commission at prescribed intervals. Efforts to get comment from the EEC on FNB Namibia’s AA report proved futile yesterday as both the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner are out of town.