Hertta-Maria Amutenja
Amidst an ongoing leadership upheaval, the Mine Workers Union of Namibia’s (MUN) Executive Committee (NEC) has lifted the suspension of 11 members.
At the same time, the union has also appointed former Namdeb branch chairperson, Shavuka Mbidhi to the position of acting vice president.
The decision comes after former president Ismael Kasuto and vice president Densley Somseb were suspended because of allegations of financial impropriety and a lack of leadership.
According to MUN acting president, Mathew Mberiuana and secretary general George Ampweya, the NEC has opted to lift the suspension of the eleven members.
“After due consideration of all necessary processes that were undertaken by the branch leadership, the NEC could not satisfy itself with how the constitutional provision was applied. Hence, in the interest of the prevalence of unity and cohesion, the NEC resolved to uplift the suspension of the 11 members,” they said.
The members were suspended from the Swakop Uranium Branch.
Last month, Kasuto and Somseb refused to vacate their respective positions in the union.
The two of them, along with two other leaders, Abraham Baisako and Delila Tsibes, issued a statement in which they claimed that they received information that the group that removed them was trying to take over the union.
They claimed that the group wanted to block them from carrying out a forensic audit of the union’s finances. They stated that the decision to release the financial report was one of the union’s 2023 Congress resolutions.
Allegations surfaced that Kasuto unlawfully withdrew N$250,000 from the union’s accounts for personal use, while Somseb purportedly changed the ownership of union assets for personal gain.
“It is worth mentioning that, by the time Kasuto withdrew this amount of money, he was already removed as President of MUN and had already received his removal letter. The NEC is hard at work to make sure that the money of these members is recovered,” said Mberiuana and Ampweya.
It is further alleged that Somaseb changed the deed of the trust fund to his name.
“It was also discovered that the former vice president, under the watchful eyes of the former president, changed the deed of trust founder from being MUN to his personal name. This action is tantamount to commercial fraud and theft. Thus, The NEC is busy transforming the ownership of the NAMIT back into the name of the MUN as an organisation, from Somseb individualization status,” they said.
