Former and current members of the Mine Workers Union demand to benefit from the trust they played a part in creating in 1997.

The Trust, according to the Association of Mine Workers Beneficiaries Namibia-Ambena, has been making money, though without the beneficiaries benefiting from it.

The members handed in a petition at the office of the Mine Workers Union of Namibia. 

In 1997, the Namibia Miners Investment Trust was created, and in the same year, the business arm of the Mine Workers Union, the Namibia Mining Investment Company, was established through the Congress. 

All this was done, members say, for the benefit of the workers and to improve and uplift their living standards.

However, 27 years later, the members have nothing to show for these efforts.

The workers further demand, among others, that an extra-ordinary congress be convened, for Ambena as a trust to be recognised, for the union to hold seats on all relevant boards, and for the release of outstanding financial and audit reports. 

They are also calling for an investigation into and subsequent closing of Namitvest, which they say was established without their knowledge and deducts payment from them. 

Namitvest owns 25 percent of Nammic.

The General Secretary of MUN, Filleppus Ampweya, who received the petition, told nbc News on the sidelines that while the beneficiaries are of the perception that they stand to receive cash payouts, the Trust in fact only stipulates beneficiation in the form of projects.

Without elaborating further, he said the board of trustees will sit and study the petition, after which they will respond accordingly.

The members demand a response within two weeks and are ready to approach the relevant authorities, including the Ombudsman's Office, for intervention.