Independence celebration workers still unpaid

Seven institutional workers at David Sheehama Secondary School in Outapi, who were instructed through the Omusati education directorate to assist and accommodate guests who had arrived for the Independence Day celebrations at the town in March, have not been paid for that work.

The seven claim that there were 600 people accommodated at the school’s hostel and they had to cook and clean their rooms and toilets for six days.

According to one of the workers, Oscar Shiweva, they were told that the food they were preparing was for the guests and they were not included because they were getting paid.

"We had to source our own meals for all those days and we slept in the hostel so we could supervise the guests," he said.

He added that they just want their money and that they had to borrow money from colleagues to buy food for the six days they were working.

Not a cent

In a letter addressed to the office of the education director, the workers said they submitted their claims on 22 March and have yet to receive a cent.

"They promised to pay us for all the six days, but up to now, we are not paid yet. We have submitted our claim forms," the letter read.

Omusati regional governor Erginus Endjala said his office was not aware of the situation.

"This is news to me. I am not aware of this. I was never approached or informed about this," he said.

Efforts made to get a comment from the education director, Benny Eiseb, proved futile as his phone was unreachable and WhatsApp messages sent to him went unanswered.

In the past, Eiseb had said he could not let people stay in the school hostel because they could not afford to pay for water and electricity because they had an outstanding bill at the Outapi town council.