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THE Labour Court has rejected former Agribank CEO Tjeripo Hijarunguru's claim for nearly N$1 million in damages against the bank and its former chairman, Dr Frans Stellmacher, ruling that Hijarunguru was not unfairly dismissed from the position.
In a ruling handed down yesterday, Labour Court chairman Clement Daniels found that Hijarunguru had explicitly accepted a contractual clause that specified that a short-term renewal of his contract did not raise future expectations of re-employment.
While Hijarunguru as suitably qualified and experienced candidate did have some right to expect to be in the running for the position, he also knew that other people had applied for the job for which he had applied for as well on two occasions, Daniels wrote in his findings.
But Daniels found that the correspondence handed in as evidence showed that Hijarunguru had agreed in writing to a contractual clause that a short-term extension of his contract did not give him the right to expect to be appointed again.
NO EXPECTATIONS CREATED "The fact that the complainant accepted this clause in writing is conclusive and clearly indicates the intention of the parties that the contract would not be renewed beyond the dates stated in these letters," Daniels wrote Hijarunguru had initially claimed an amount of N$6,137 million, but during the course of the hearings late last year first amended his claim to N$498 000, and finally to N$998 000.
This was based on what he expected to earn as the MD of Agribank, to which position former President Sam Nujoma had appointed him for five years on May 17 1997, and which contract officially expired on December 31 2003.
His contract was then extended on several occasions until January 22 2004 to allow Agribank's Board to finalise its search for a new CEO in the wake of a restructuring at the ailing bank at the time.
Hijarunguru, who currently represents the Epia Group's interests in the Ohlthaver & List conglomerate, then was forced to vacate his office because he had refused to recognise a decision by the Board not to extend or renew his contract again.
During the hearings last year, the court heard of high-level interference in the appointment of a new CEO as the bank started sinking in a sea of red ink resulting from a host of non-performing affirmative action loans issued under Hijarunguru.
Hijarunguru raised eyebrows when he testified that he did not think a salary of N$84 000 per month was very high, describing it as "sort of middling" for that kind of position in a State-owned enterprise.
Daniels did not make an order on the costs of the case, as he said he was not convinced that Hijarunguru's complaint was vexatious and frivolous.
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