Niël Terblanché
IRRECONSILABLE differences with the current management of the Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) has resulted in the immediate resignation of three members of the board of directors.
The board chairperson Johnnie Hamman, vice-chair Clara Bohitile and Kay-Dieter Rumpf, the board representative for commercial farmers, resigned from their positions following a substantive board meeting on 27 May 2021.
The reason they provided for their resignation is material irreconcilable differences between the management and the rest of the board of directors.
All three presented their letters of resignation with immediate effect to Leon Jooste, the Minister of Public Enterprises.
Bohitile, who served as the deputy minister of education for ten years, is also a prominent commercial farmer.
In 2006, she was named the Emerging Farmer of the Year by the Namibia Agricultural Union.
At the end of her tenure as deputy minister of education, she made history when she was elected to serve as the chair of the board of Meatco.
In the meantime, the Livestock Producers Organisation (LPO) issued a statement in which it expresses deep concern over the immediate resignations of the three expert board members.
“The cattle industry is a key contributor to the total agricultural production in Namibia,” the statement reads.
According to the LPO, the sector contributes on average about 45% to the total agricultural production value, making it by far the most important sub-sector.
The value created, noted LPO, has led to greater employment opportunities, the stabilization and maintenance of rural economies, and thus the restriction of rural to urban migration.
LPO added that an unstable and unsustainable cattle industry will result in a loss of livelihood for especially rural individuals and a loss of disposable income for rural communities will in turn have a detrimental effect on the GDP.
“The recent series of events at our national export facility, Meatco, has impacted negatively on the overall confidence in the management’s ability to turn the state-owned enterprise around as a competitive, sustainable business,” the statement said.
Producers are the main stakeholders in the value chain and without Meatco’s support, the value chain will collapse, employment and tax revenues will be lost, livelihoods will be negatively impacted, and this will ultimately have a negative multiplier effect on the rural and urban economy, added LPO.
“The LPO is very concerned about the resultant implications that these resignations could have,” the statement reads.
