Enough is enough!

A combination of factors have contributed to the dysfunctional state of many local state-owned enterprises, and there seems to be no end in sight. This situation is even more worrying when such shenanigans play themselves out at perennial lossmaking parastatals, which are already milking the taxpayer dry because of their heavy reliance on bailouts. Clear signs of corporate governance failings have been exposed at the Namibian Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF), following revelations this week that the fund cut its ties with a debt collection joint venture, after the contractor only recovered a measly N$6.8 million, while it was paid about N$14.7 million as part of the agreement. NSFAF entered into a contract with the joint venture arrangement between Tribesmen Investment and South African-based New Integrated Credit Solutions (NICS) in 2014, but the fund’s acting CEO, Kennedy Kandume, they realised only in March this year that Tribesmen/NICS was acting in bad faith. The debt collector was given a target of recovering around N$400 million. However, NSFAF was left N$8 million worse off after the contractor failed dismally in its mission. NSFAF received the complete wrong end of the stick here and it clearly defies logic why the fund opted for an arrangement that saw Tribesmen/NCIS receiving a fixed monthly management fee of N$287 500, inclusive of value added tax (VAT), on top of a 12% commission fee. It is also very clear to us that there is a problem with the way this organisation has been managed in the past. Instead of steering the fund in the right direction for growth and to assist poor students with proper funding, the management went ahead and signed an agreement that contained some very unfavourable terms for the institution. It is only fair that whoever agreed to such an undertaking be disciplined, as their actions have unacceptably compromised the principles of good corporate governance. This mess can longer be allowed to continue without officials being held accountable. Enough is enough!