Zambezi security guards strike over unpaid wages

About 20 Shilimela Security Services guards in the Zambezi region have gone on strike after going unpaid because the agriculture ministry has not paid their employer. The strike, spearheaded by the Namibia Public Security Allied Workers Union (Napsawu) at Katima Mulilo, kicked off yesterday. Union chairperson Alex Taimo yesterday said the union has been engaging the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform since last week to ensure it pays Shilimela, but without success. He said the employees were due for payment on 25 October.

“However, on 27 October the owner of Shilimela Security Services told me they are unable to pay the workers again because the agriculture ministry has not paid them yet. “I then went on to consult agriculture ministry officials, who confirmed that indeed they have not paid the company. We are now in November, and there’s still no salary. The agriculture ministry must pay the company, because these security guards have been working on empty stomachs every day,” Taimo said. One of the guards, Victor Mabibo, yesterday said his children have not been going to school because they do not have any food, while the furniture shop, where some employees have accounts, are calling them every day because of…