Tangeni Amupadhi reports for The Namibian. Excerpt:
THE Roads Authority has stopped trying to catch out liars among people it wants to hire or promote.
The Authority abandoned using lie detector tests after unhappy workers seeking promotion complained to The Namibian.
While the Roads Authority has stopped using lie detectors, the man hired to conduct the tests says the practice is widespread as a condition of employment in Namibia.
This raises ethical and legal questions, lawyers say.
The agency recently advertised internally for positions of a ‘Law Administration Officer’ and ‘Licensing Officers’.
After listing specific requirements for the posts, the advert stated in bold letters: “All applicants will be subjected to a polygraph screening test prior to attending the interviews.”
Asked whether this was company policy, Roads Authority spokesperson Dintwe Mootseng said the lie detector test has been required by the Namibia Traffic Information System (NaTIS) as a means of ensuring the credibility of the organisation which issues driving and motor vehicle licences.
“We can confirm that there is a requirement from NaTIS for people in sensitive positions to take the polygraph test,” Mootseng said.
“The NaTIS system is an international system which spans across southern Africa and beyond. The integrity of the system is of utmost importance, we cannot afford to compromise it in any way,” he said.
But Mootseng added that the practice had been suspended and the results of the latest polygraph tests would be disregarded until the Roads Authority has clarified the policy.
“We have erred, we realise we made a mistake by doing this,” Mootseng said.