Samherji partner offers to pay former fishermen

Esja Investment (Pty) Limited, owned by the Icelandic company Samherji HF through its subsidiary company in Cyprus, Esja Fishing, which also owned Esja Seafood in Namibia, has offered to pay severance packages to the 23 former fishermen.

The fishermen previously worked on the Heinaste vessel, before their employment was abruptly terminated in December 2018.

Following their dispute, they took their employer to the labor court and secured an arbitration award of N$1,8 million against ArcticNam in 2021, a joint venture between Samherji HF and a consortium of a Namibian group of fishing quota beneficiaries Sinco Fishing, Epango Fishing and Yukor.

A letter dated 29 November, seen by The Namibian, from Norman Tjombe representing the fishermen against ArcticNam to Esja Investment, represented by Kula Simpson of Sisa Namandje Inc, confirmed that Tjombe’s clients had considered the offer.

However, they rejected the partial payment settlement offer on behalf of his clients.

“Our instructions are to place on record that our clients rejected the settlement offer of a partial payment of the judgment debt. Our instructions are that your client makes payment of the full judgment debt and 20% per annum interest on each of the amounts due to our various clients, which interest is to be calculated from the date of the arbitral award (i.e. 24 June 2021) until the date of full payment,” he said.

Tjombe argued that over the 29 months since the award, the interest had escalated to approximately N$900 000 on the combined judgment debt, increasing monthly by around N$30 431.

He further emphasized that his clients had obtained an arbitral award that became a court order over two and a half years ago, highlighting their futile attempts to secure the owed debt.

He stated that his clients bore no responsibility for the delay and wouldn’t compromise on the judgment debt or the interest.

“Furthermore, your client, the managing company (ESJA Investment (Pty) Ltd) and the managing director, have plunged our clients into abject poverty through unlawful actions — not to mention the allegations of corruption and bribery against your clients, which are directly linked to our clients’ ultimate desperate fate,” he said.

Tjombe demanded that full payment be made within one week.