The Affirmative Repositioning has confirmed it will drag the labour ministry to court over the pending registration of the movement’s workers’ union. 

AR leader Job Amupanda yesterday claimed labour commissioner Henri Kassen has deliberately halted an application to register the Revolutionary Union during the entire 2021 while seeking legal advice on the matter.  

AR, a movement established by young land activists in 2014, last year formed a labour union, the RU, aimed at championing and assisting the struggling working class.

 However, the union is still to receive a registration certificate from the labour ministry. 

Addressing the media yesterday, Amupanda accused Kassen of receiving political instructions to not issue the RU with a registration certificate. 

“As soon as we discovered, through a tip-off, that the regime has decided not to allow RU to register, we resolved to attend to all concerns the labour commissioner may raise with us. Our decision to comply with concerns was vindicated when the labour commissioner uncharacteristically took issue with words such as ‘militant’ and ‘revolutionary’ in our constitution,” Amupanda said. 

He said, after they addressed all concerns, Kassen later decided to approach attorney general Festus Mbandeka for a legal opinion – and despite having received the legal opinion from Mbandeka, Kassen still refused to register RU, the AR claimed. 

“We also learned that the attorney general gave a legal opinion on the matter that affirms our position that our application to register in those sectors is in line with the law. Despite the attorney general’s opinion, the labour commissioner still refused to register RU,” Amupanda charged. 

He said, more disturbingly, and as a matter of record, Kassen decided to go discuss the attorney general’s legal opinion with labour minister Uutoni Nujoma. 

Kassen’s phone went unanswered yesterday. 

He did not also respond to a WhatsApp message forwarded to him. 

Similarly, Nujoma could not respond to the allegations levelled against him, since his phone went unanswered. 

“We are confident that despite these shenanigans and political delays, RU will very soon register, and the working class will be liberated. The fact that the regime decided to reject even the advice of its constitutional advisor, the Attorney General, is indicative of the thunderous RU fear that has captivated the regime,” Amupanda said while calling on workers of Namibia to remain resolute, as it is a matter of time before RU is registered.

- ktjitemisa@nepc.com