Roshan Sedhai

An agitated faction of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) has filed a motion of no-confidence against Chairman Bal Bahadur Tamang. The joint struggle committee of the disgruntled faction of the NAFEA submitted 601 signatures of the NAFEA’s member organisations while filing the letter to the association. The faction has also submitted a copy of the no-confidence motion at the District Administration Office.

The faction has been relentlessly protesting against Tamang in the last few months. Tamang is accused of tarnishing the image of the manpower agencies, promoting favoritism and nepotism in the association, and grossly failing to defend the manpower agencies. The faction had twice attempted to impeach Tamang through the general assembly but failed due to meager support.

Tamang faced immense pressure after claiming that 99 percent of manpower companies use fake work contracts at immigration in Tribhuvan International airport.

More recently, the protest of the faction received overwhelming support when the foreign employment industry suffered heavy losses following a crackdown from the Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA). The CIAA arrested dozens of officials from the Department of Foreign Employment, the Department of Immigration and manpower companies.

Dissident members of the NAFEA said the signatures of the member agencies are in the process of verification on Wednesday. They said the verification process will be completed by Friday. “Once the verification process ends, we will ask the DAO and the existing leadership to investigate it. After that, we will consequently call an assembly of the members to impeach him (Tamang),” said the former second secretary of the NAFEA, Kumud Khanal. Only two of the NAFEA members have withdrawn their signatures so far.

“We are confident that we have the majority to impeach him. The required procedures for his impeachment will be completed by Friday,” said Kamal Tamang, former secretary of the NAFEA. According to existing provisions, the disgruntled faction needs the support of 570 member organisations to impeach the chairman.

Chairman Tamang said the no-confidence motion was politically motivated. He said that a few individuals are furious with the way he is flushing out the irregularities and anomalies in the sector.

“I have always been the target of a particular section of the industry who does not desire change. They want the industry to remain as it is because they have profit in that,” said Tamang. He said he has no problem in giving his resignation if two-thirds of the majority clearly want it. A source said the establishment faction is preparing to take the case to the court as negotiation looks unlikely.

 Published on: 26 September 2013  | The Kathmandu Post