Former City of Windhoek executive Fillemon Hambuda has lost the fight for his last salary at the City of Windhoek after the High Court dismissed his appeal.

Judge Eileen Rakow yesterday dismissed with costs Hambuda’s appeal against an arbitrator’s ruling, which resulted in him losing his last month’s pay of N$261 063.30 when he decided to terminate his
working relationship with the city without giving three months’ notice.

“In this instance, the court is satisfied that the conclusion reached by the labour commissioner is not clearly wrong, and is a conclusion he was entitled to reach.
I, therefore, find no legal point available and for that reason, the appeal must not succeed,” stated Rakow.

On 18 March 2021, an arbitrator
dismissed Hambuda’s case in which he
wanted to force the City of Windhoek to pay him N$261 063.30 when he decided to terminate his working relationship with the city. 

Arbitrator Kahitire Humu found that whether Hambuda went on early retirement or resigned, he was bound to the terms of his contract, which required him to give his employer three months’ notice.
Failure to do so led to the city being obliged to invoke a clause in his employment contract, which stipulates “…the employee shall pay the employer an amount which is equal to the remuneration which the employer
would have been required to pay the
employee had he (the employee) terminated the contract with the notice.”

Court documents indicate that Hambuda completed a notice of early retirement on 8 October 2020, in which he indicated that his last day at work would be 30 November 2020. In his notice, he indicated that due to the November 2020 elections where he might be elected into office, he wanted to avoid a situation where he had to resign instantly.

His notice was signed on 18 October 2020 by the CEO.

As a result of his notice, the city deducted N$261 263.30 from his salary, claiming that it is equivalent to the three months he was supposed to have given notice for.

Hambuda had been a full-time employee at the City of Windhoek since 1997. In 2017, his contract was converted into a fixed-term contract of three years and five months when he became a strategic executive for economic development and community services. 

His contract was ending on 31 December 2020.

-mamakali@nepc.com.na