The government’s ban on retrechment of workers, reduction of pay and use of compulsory leave by employers to limit their labour costs during the Covid-19 state of emergency is unconstitutional and invalid, the High Court ruled yesterday. With the decision of judges Shafimana Ueitele, Thomas Masuku and Hannelie Prinsloo, two organisations representing employers in Namibia and five companies operating in the country have dealt a defeat to the government in an urgent application in which they were questioning the constitutionality of state of emergency regulations issued by president Hage Geingob.