Ex-Air Namibia employees staged a protest Monday morning, expressing anger with the independent liquidators, David Bruni and Ian McLaren, for having cut their severance packages.

Bruni & McLaren, appointed as consultants, found that the original calculations on which the liquidators and the employees had agreed were wrong.

After the closure of the national airline some 20 months ago, it was agreed that its 640 employees would be paid severance packages at a cost to company, based on the number of years of service at the airline.

Benefits to be paid also included accumulated leave days at a maximum of 60 days, a 13th cheque, and a one-month salary.

The total amount for all employees stood at N$105 million, which now, after revision by the Namibia National Employers' Organisation (NaNEO), has been reduced to about N$103 million.

In a letter to the Master of the High Court, the organization notifies the Master that, upon perusal of the calculations, it came to light that it was done at cost to company and not on a basic salary as prescribed by the Labour Act.
 
It has thus recalculated the severance payouts using only the basic salary.

This new information was not welcomed by the employees.

"How can they allow that? It is under oath, it is an agreement, and we will stay here until each and every claim has been paid, that was signed under oath," said Reinier Bougard, a former employee of the airline.

The signed agreement of an employee seen by the nbc News team shows that he was to receive a severance payment of more than N$145 thousand at the company's expense, but with the recalculation, it has been reduced to around N$124 thousand.

According to Bougard, who was also a shop steward during the time that Air Namibia still carried the spirit of Namibia, a partner at Bruni & McLaren reached out to him and promised that all payments would be made in the next thirty days.

"This was a very simple email that was sent. That we will get the payment within 30 days from one of the liquidators, but like I said, the liquidators are two people, so it has to come officially from both of them, in black and white."

Many of the former employees who gathered this morning have lost property, and their livelihoods have changed drastically, the liquidation has hit them hard.

They were not received by any official from the liquidators to receive their one-page petition, demand, and calculation of their severance packages based on the original agreement and cost to company.

The group says that on Tuesday they will head to the offices of Bruni & McLaren, where they will camp until what is due them is paid.

nbc News contacted the offices of the liquidators and was advised to speak to Mr. Bruni, who was tied up in meetings.