MTC forced to reinstate suspended company secretary

Mobile Telecommunication Company (MTC) has been ordered to reinstate its estranged company secretary after a disciplinary hearing cleared her of all charges.

MTC suspended its company secretary, Ndahambelela Haikali, in December 2021 – barely eight months in her position – for sending an open email to the company’s shareholders.

Haikali was also charged with five additional offences, including failing to conceal individual shareholders’ email addresses.

Lawyer Eliaser Nekwaya, who chaired the disciplinary hearing, concluded in May that Haikali should be reinstated with immediate effect.

He said MTC failed to prove that Haikali was guilty of any of the charges brought against her. Some senior officials at the mobile service provider believe Haikali was a victim of a witch-hunt.

Haikali declined to comment on the matter when approached by The Namibian, while Nekwaya directed questions to his instructing attorney, Ileni Gebhardt. Gebhardt in turn said: “The matter was concluded in terms of MTC’s policies and applicable labour laws, the content and details of which I am not at liberty to disclose, taking into account the confidential nature of the matter at hand.”

Haikali was facing six charges.

The first charge was breach of confidentiality, which stemmed from her alleged disclosure to the company’s executive management of the board’s approval of managing director Licky Erastus’s new salary package. The second charge of conflict of interest alleged that she had used information obtained during her duties with the board for personal gain, specifically by asking the human resources department why she was being paid below the midpoint of the salary range determined by the board’s remuneration committee.

Her third charge was breach of confidentiality for disclosing the identity and personal emails of 1 447 shareholders to themselves, after failing to blind copy the email. As a result, some shareholders complained to the company, claiming their private email addresses were exposed, opening them up to being targeted.

Haikali’s fourth charge was attempting to bring the company’s name into disrepute. This was also linked to the dissemination of information to 1 447 shareholders without concealing their identities and private email addresses.

She was also charged for breach of trust, because she complained to a board member about her difficult working conditions and her treatment at the hands of Erastus and some members of the company’s executive team.

Haikali’s sixth charge was alleged insubordination for asking board members if they were informed of her suspension.

This was despite the suspension conditions stating that she should not contact company employees, its board of directors or shareholders during her suspension period.

VERDICT

Nekwaya dismissed charges two and five, because MTC did not follow the correct procedures and did not file the charges within the prescribed time limit.

Nekwaya ruled on the rest of the charges by dismissing them as well. He concluded that MTC had failed to prove Haikali’s guilt and ordered that she be reinstated with immediate effect.

MTC allegedly attempted to settle the matter by offering Haikali an exit package. This was allegedly done after it was discovered that board approval was not sought to effect her suspension.

Senior employees at MTC said Haikali allegedly refused the offer, as she wanted to clear her name and believed that the move to fire her was malicious.

MTC spokesperson Tim Ekandjo said the company will not comment on employee-related issues.

“I can confirm that the said employee is employed by MTC and indeed a proud ambassador of our brand,” he said.

OTHER LABOUR DISPUTES

MTC has also been in the news for a protracted labour dispute with network management and technical administrator Joseph Nakalemo dating back three years.

Nakalemo is currently in a court battle, challenging his dismissal from MTC.

For years, Nakalemo has claimed that MTC’s top bosses have been involved in questionable transactions and tenders.

He also accused Ekandjo and general manager for transmission and network access Ludwig Tjitandi of victimisation and bullying. MTC and various accused managers have denied wrongdoing.