KATIMA MULILO – The Katima Mulilo Town Council has been ordered to pay former employee Frederick Sezuni full back pay amounting to N$477 034.96 by 30 September 2025.
This is part of a verdict handed down by the Labour Commissioner’s Office.
Sezuni was dismissed in 2024 after being found guilty of breaching suspension conditions.
His offence was the use of the council’s official letterhead to raise grievances with higher authorities while under suspension.
However, he argued that the suspension instructions given to him were vague, lacking a clear prohibition against such use of council stationery.
Arbitrator Maiba Bester Sinvula of the Labour Commissioner’s Office at Katima Mulilo on Friday handed down the decision ordering Sezuni’s immediate reinstatement.
The ruling also invalidated the dismissal as substantively unfair.
In the arbitration proceedings, it became evident that the town council had failed to establish that Sezuni was ever explicitly informed that using a letterhead during his suspension would violate suspension conditions.
The arbitrator stated that dismissal is a “last resort” sanction, appropriate only where misconduct is deliberate, ongoing and where trust has irreparably destroyed standards that were not met in this case.
Adding further weight to the victory, Sinvula dismissed the council’s argument that the employment relationship had broken down irreparably, pointing out the absence of substantive evidence to that effect.
Sezuni, who has been with the town council since 2008 as an assistant environmental health officer, is the first among 22 employees facing similar disputes with the council to win reinstatement.
The Namibia Public Workers Union (NAPWU), which represented Sezuni, lauded the ruling as a “victory for justice and a stern reminder that vague workplace rules cannot be weaponised to justify dismissals”.
The Katima Mulilo Town Council has until mid-August to decide whether to appeal the arbitration ruling to the Labour Court.
Sezuni said he feels this is more than a legal win but a personal vindication