City of Windhoek approves Omeya Investment hour wage rate

By: Hertha Ekandjo

The City of Windhoek has approved the previously requested hourly rate by Omeya Investment CC, an increase from the current contract rate of N$14.45 to N$19.20 per hour per guard, effective as from the 1st of January 2025.

Omeya Investment’s Managing Director, Johannes Shuuya, confirmed this to NewsOnOne on Tuesday, stating his company was previously unable to implement the national minimum wage due to the city’s low wage rate per hour.

NewsOnOne previously reported that Johannes Shuuya blamed the City of Windhoek for his company’s failure to implement the newly gazetted national minimum wage of N$13.50 per hour for security guards, citing stagnant contract rates as the main barrier.

Shuuya has however expressed his gratitude towards the city for approving his request.

The city has been paying Omeya Investment, a company which currently employs 286 security guards under a service contract with the City of Windhoek, N$14.45 per hour since 2018 while the minimum wage for security guards is supposed to N$ 13.50.

In a letter seen by NewsOnOne, the city proposed that Omeya Investment accepts the proposal retrospectively from the 1st of January 2025 to the 30th of May 2025.

Previously, Shuuya said, “they have been paying me N$14.45 per hour since 2018. That rate never changed. After deducting VAT of N$2.16, I’m left with N$12.29. That’s already below the minimum wage, and we haven’t even talked about operating costs.”

Back then, he warned that unless the city adjusts its payment structure to align with the national wage policy, he may be forced to lay off staff, which he argued would contradict national employment creation goals.

Shuuya at the time was frustrated after the ministry of labour issued an order directing his company to comply with the new minimum wage requirements.

“If I’m being paid at the old rate and told to pay the new minimum wage, that shortfall makes it unsustainable,” he explained.

“As a contractor, I don’t manufacture goods. I provide a service and depend on the client. And this client is a public institution, which should be socially responsible,” Shuuya previously stressed.