Minister admits NSFAF loan bungle
Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation Itah Kandjii-Murangi has confirmed that the Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund has lost the records of some loan and grant recipients, but said she was hopeful that those graduates would be “patriotic enough to pay back the money”.
Kandji-Murangi maintained that with the type of relocation that NSFAF had undergone in the past, it was natural that “certain things” might have happened.
“I was not part of the ministry at that time, but I’ve learned that recordkeeping was a problem that is still haunting us now,” she told journalists yesterday.
Kandji-Murangi’s admission came a few weeks after NSFAF insisted to Namibian Sun that no records had been lost.
Responding to questions from this newspaper last month, NSFAF’s chief human capital and corporate affairs officer Olavi Hamwele said NSFAF was on record as saying that no files had gone missing.
“What we can confirm is that we are in the process of converting files from manual system to an electronic system to eliminate any risk that might be associated with manual files,” he said.
The issue of missing files has led to students refusing to pay back their loans. Some graduates argue that it would be unfair to make those whose records are available pay, while many others are likely going to slip through due to bad recordkeeping.
Namibian Sun reported last month that NSFAF was ready to locate at least 16 669 students who had received loans, grants and scholarships between 1997 and 2010 and failed to pack back the money.
These loans, grants and scholarships are valued at over N$479 million.
This figure caused a stir on social media, with many questioning why the files of those who received loans as far back as 1997 are only available for retrieval now.
Even more shocking is that of the thousands who received loans in 2010, who should have finished a four-year degree by now, only 15 files are available for retrieval.
Kandji-Murangi yesterday said NSFAF was doing everything it could to ensure that those whose records are intact have an income, which would allow them to pay back the money.
She added that those whose records are lost should be urged to pay back to ensure the fund’s sustainability.
GORDON JOSEPH
Kandji-Murangi maintained that with the type of relocation that NSFAF had undergone in the past, it was natural that “certain things” might have happened.
“I was not part of the ministry at that time, but I’ve learned that recordkeeping was a problem that is still haunting us now,” she told journalists yesterday.
Kandji-Murangi’s admission came a few weeks after NSFAF insisted to Namibian Sun that no records had been lost.
Responding to questions from this newspaper last month, NSFAF’s chief human capital and corporate affairs officer Olavi Hamwele said NSFAF was on record as saying that no files had gone missing.
“What we can confirm is that we are in the process of converting files from manual system to an electronic system to eliminate any risk that might be associated with manual files,” he said.
The issue of missing files has led to students refusing to pay back their loans. Some graduates argue that it would be unfair to make those whose records are available pay, while many others are likely going to slip through due to bad recordkeeping.
Namibian Sun reported last month that NSFAF was ready to locate at least 16 669 students who had received loans, grants and scholarships between 1997 and 2010 and failed to pack back the money.
These loans, grants and scholarships are valued at over N$479 million.
This figure caused a stir on social media, with many questioning why the files of those who received loans as far back as 1997 are only available for retrieval now.
Even more shocking is that of the thousands who received loans in 2010, who should have finished a four-year degree by now, only 15 files are available for retrieval.
Kandji-Murangi yesterday said NSFAF was doing everything it could to ensure that those whose records are intact have an income, which would allow them to pay back the money.
She added that those whose records are lost should be urged to pay back to ensure the fund’s sustainability.
GORDON JOSEPH
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