WINDHOEK: The Office of the Labour Commissioner here on Tuesday held a stakeholder engagement on Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) in Namibia, with the goal of improving service delivery and addressing long-standing issues.

The interaction also provided a platform for stakeholders to identify obstacles and collaborate on common solutions to improve labour dispute settlement efficiency.

The Office of the Labour Commissioner handles labour dispute resolutions through conciliation and arbitration processes, which have long attracted negative public criticism.

As part of the engagement on BPR, these two processes have been assessed in their current state (AS-IS) by detailing all steps taken, highlighting interactions, decision points, and sources of information.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, Hafeni Ndemula indicated the change of labour dispute prevention, adding that while some outcomes have been achieved, some deficiencies have to be corrected.

‘It would be fo
olish to dismiss the fact that, as with every freshly implemented system or process, there are many areas of weakness and failure, in addition to many achievements. It is known that some of these deficiencies are more serious and have far-reaching consequences than others,’ said Ndemula.

Echoing similar sentiments, Lydia Indombo, Executive Director of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, stated that there has been a public outcry over delays in adjudicating labour issues at the Office of the Labour Commissioner. As a result, the ministry conducted an investigation and decided to test the BPR at the Office of the Labour Commissioner.

‘The public has made several concerns about the conciliation and arbitration process. I believe that registering federations, associations, and trade unions is significantly faster. Labour cases are taking longer than expected. Some disputing parties have given up, while others have lost faith in the Alternative Dispute Resolution methods availab
le in the country,’ Indombo said.

She said that the public sector has several reform measures in place to improve service delivery, such as BPR, the Performance Management System (which promotes self-rating and accountability among officials), the Public Sector Wage Bill Containment Strategy, and Public Sector Innovation.

‘The benefits of these reforms are numerous if those entrusted with such responsibilities apply them to the best of their ability,’ Indombo said.

Source: The Namibia News Agency