Swapo has directed that government refer the contentious Financial Instruments and Market Act (FIMA) back to parliament to give lawmakers a better chance for consultation, echoing calls by party rival Dr Job Amupanda – who earlier this year fiercely campaigned against the implementation of the law.

The largely-criticised draft regulation by the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) had proposed a 75% pension preservation for members of retirement funds until the age of 55.

After Amupanda publicly brought to the fore plans to implement the Act, much of the Namibian workforce – including Swapo-affiliated labour unions – protested against it.

The regulations were supposed to come into force on 1 October, but after wide condemnations, this was placed on ice pending stakeholder consultations.

Swapo, at its just-ended seventh ordinary congress held three weeks ago, resolved to direct government to further discuss FIMA in parliament.

“The Swapo Party directs government to put on hold the FIMA Bill and related regulations because in its current form, it will negatively affect the image of the party. It must be referred back to parliament for further consultations,” a draft resolution taken at the congress read.

Act will haunt them

Pension fund doyen Tilman Friedrich welcomed the resolution to send the Act back to the drawing board.

“Judging by the short period it took to pass parliament and the few questions asked, I must conclude that parliament was overwhelmed by FIMA’s size and complexity. As a result, it is unlikely that the negative components of FIMA were appropriately considered and evaluated by parliament, and will still haunt… those responsible for regulating, implementing and complying with this law,” he said.

Friedrich added that should the piece of legislation be sent back to parliament, it will need a special framework considering its depth.

“I am in favour of the law being reconsidered by parliament. Still, this will only be purposeful if parliament devised a special framework for considering such complex and expansive laws,” he said.

Lack of dialogue

Labour unionist Mahongora Kavihuha was unimpressed with how Swapo was approaching the matter, saying it had ignored similar cries in the past due to a general lack of dialogue.

“I am not impressed by the big organ of a party making a decision based on symptoms. The outcry around FIMA is a symptom that there is a lack of dialogue,” he said.

There were other topical issues the ruling party was not reacting to that needed its attention, he said.

“Swapo should have made a decision based on the outcry on many laws. There is the New Equitable Economic Empowerment Bill, tax matters… Education for the ruling party to make a decision on FIMA shows that they are shallow and misunderstand their role,” he said.

Clear, robust dialogue was the only manner to effectively deal with elements contained in the Act, Kavihuha added.

“The devil lies in social dialogue. We need to establish a structure that will carry out dialogue. I was expecting the ruling party to use FIMA as an avenue for social dialogue,” he said.

Ulterior motives

Affirmative Repositioning activist Amupanda in April raised concerns around the Act, warning that its introduction was tied to ulterior motives.

“Pension funds are disowning the regulations and that we have not been presented with any scientific evidence that support the assumptions of stopping workers from accessing their article 16 properties (pension), it is clear that somewhere in dark corners, a scheme is being hatched and FIMA was identified as the vehicle,” he said.

Government has in the meantime set up a new committee to deal with the Act under the stewardship of finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi.