Govt defends Zim ‘experts’
The information minister has admitted that the government’s push for registering Zimbabwean architects and quantity surveyors with Namibian professional boards is aimed at allowing them to set up shop locally after their contracts with the works ministry lapse.
CATHERINE SASMAN
Following a public outcry by Namibian graduates over the continued employment of Zimbabwean architects and quantity surveyors, the cabinet has directed that the Ministry of Works and Transport consult with the Namibia Council of Architects and “perhaps” the Engineering Council of Namibia “to gauge the continued need for expatriates in the public service”.
But in the same breath the minister of information and communication technology, Tjekero Tweya, warned against xenophobia.
“Namibia is a product of international solidarity and we are proud that many citizens of the world would like to come to live in Namibia and help us build and expand this Namibian house. Namibians have their homes and careers all over the world. Others too should feel at home in Namibia, whilst we ensure that Namibians themselves feel at home in their own country, side by side,” Tweya said in a statement issued yesterday.
The government spokesman acknowledged that the push for the registration of Zimbabwean architects and quantity surveyors with professional bodies here was aimed at allowing them to “set up shop” in the private sector after their contracts with the works ministry lapsed.
Tweya said although the economy was on the mend, many contracts had been put on hold. In the meantime, he advised, the situation “cannot be cured by reliance on xenophobic mantra”, saying people should instead “multi-skill” and “do more with less”.
Ironically, Tweya also painstakingly explained the long, difficult road for local graduates to get registered with professional bodies.
He explained that graduates must register for in-service training that can last between three and seven years, or even longer. That is then followed by written and oral examinations.
Works minister Alpheus !Naruseb on 17 March gazetted a notice exempting 29 Zimbabweans from registration with the council for architects.
!Naruseb on 28 July wrote a letter to the president of the Namibia Council of Architects and Quantity Surveyors, Kerry McNamara, in which he wrote that he “had been advised” that the 29 Zimbabwean must be exempted from registration.
In that letter !Naruseb urged McNamara to “expedite the process of including on your register” the names of the exempted Zimbabweans.
!Naruseb further wrote to McNamara: “Considering that the registrations are in force for the duration of each person’s contract of employment, I hereby direct council to facilitate for those on the list who in future will satisfy council requirements to sit for Assessment for Professional Competence (APC) examinations.”
Nevertheless, in yesterday’s statement Tweya said the letter to McNamara did not motivate their exemption from the registration requirements of the Architects’ and Quantity Surveyors’ Act of 1979 based on a lapsed agreement between the Namibian and Zimbabwean governments.
Tweya said neither was the employment of persons in the public service on contract conditional upon the existence of an agreement between any government and the Namibian government.
“As a matter of fact, with the agreement in question having lapsed, there was no bar upon the minister [!Naruseb] and the administrative authorities to have appointed the Zimbabweans,” Tweya said.
Tweya said taking into consideration that the Zimbabweans were employed here to supervise projects of the works ministry and the government, as well as to train young Namibians, the only outstanding issue was the registration of the Zimbabweans “in the normal course of enrolment”.
He further said most of the 29 Zimbabweans were not registered in their own country, yet were registered in the United Kingdom or South Africa.
However, the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) does not recognise qualifications from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) of Zimbabwe, and that is why the professional bodies here did not register the Zimbabweans, Tweya said.
“However, when these professionals have taken the exam, the APC, some of them are passing and becoming registered in their own right and not only by virtue of the exemption,” Tweya said.
Following a public outcry by Namibian graduates over the continued employment of Zimbabwean architects and quantity surveyors, the cabinet has directed that the Ministry of Works and Transport consult with the Namibia Council of Architects and “perhaps” the Engineering Council of Namibia “to gauge the continued need for expatriates in the public service”.
But in the same breath the minister of information and communication technology, Tjekero Tweya, warned against xenophobia.
“Namibia is a product of international solidarity and we are proud that many citizens of the world would like to come to live in Namibia and help us build and expand this Namibian house. Namibians have their homes and careers all over the world. Others too should feel at home in Namibia, whilst we ensure that Namibians themselves feel at home in their own country, side by side,” Tweya said in a statement issued yesterday.
The government spokesman acknowledged that the push for the registration of Zimbabwean architects and quantity surveyors with professional bodies here was aimed at allowing them to “set up shop” in the private sector after their contracts with the works ministry lapsed.
Tweya said although the economy was on the mend, many contracts had been put on hold. In the meantime, he advised, the situation “cannot be cured by reliance on xenophobic mantra”, saying people should instead “multi-skill” and “do more with less”.
Ironically, Tweya also painstakingly explained the long, difficult road for local graduates to get registered with professional bodies.
He explained that graduates must register for in-service training that can last between three and seven years, or even longer. That is then followed by written and oral examinations.
Works minister Alpheus !Naruseb on 17 March gazetted a notice exempting 29 Zimbabweans from registration with the council for architects.
!Naruseb on 28 July wrote a letter to the president of the Namibia Council of Architects and Quantity Surveyors, Kerry McNamara, in which he wrote that he “had been advised” that the 29 Zimbabwean must be exempted from registration.
In that letter !Naruseb urged McNamara to “expedite the process of including on your register” the names of the exempted Zimbabweans.
!Naruseb further wrote to McNamara: “Considering that the registrations are in force for the duration of each person’s contract of employment, I hereby direct council to facilitate for those on the list who in future will satisfy council requirements to sit for Assessment for Professional Competence (APC) examinations.”
Nevertheless, in yesterday’s statement Tweya said the letter to McNamara did not motivate their exemption from the registration requirements of the Architects’ and Quantity Surveyors’ Act of 1979 based on a lapsed agreement between the Namibian and Zimbabwean governments.
Tweya said neither was the employment of persons in the public service on contract conditional upon the existence of an agreement between any government and the Namibian government.
“As a matter of fact, with the agreement in question having lapsed, there was no bar upon the minister [!Naruseb] and the administrative authorities to have appointed the Zimbabweans,” Tweya said.
Tweya said taking into consideration that the Zimbabweans were employed here to supervise projects of the works ministry and the government, as well as to train young Namibians, the only outstanding issue was the registration of the Zimbabweans “in the normal course of enrolment”.
He further said most of the 29 Zimbabweans were not registered in their own country, yet were registered in the United Kingdom or South Africa.
However, the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) does not recognise qualifications from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) of Zimbabwe, and that is why the professional bodies here did not register the Zimbabweans, Tweya said.
“However, when these professionals have taken the exam, the APC, some of them are passing and becoming registered in their own right and not only by virtue of the exemption,” Tweya said.
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