NSFAF shake-up gets 'technical'
The higher education ministry has asked for patience as it starts the process of reintegrating the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) into its operations.
This call was made by permanent secretary Alfred van Kent when asked to provide a reintegration update.
During a media briefing held in December 2017, higher education minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi announced that the fund would be reintegrated back into her ministry after a suggestion by President Hage Geingob to cabinet. Kandjii-Murangi shared her intent during the briefing to have the parastatal integrated back into the line ministry. Giving an update on the matter, Van Kent last week said the ministry was still engaged in technical consultations.
“For the ministry of higher education to remain prepared, it is necessary to inform ourselves of the various operational and technical aspects of the organisation, thus the need for technical consultations,” said Van Kent.
According to him, it is imperative for the education ministry to engage stakeholders in order to establish the facts, so that smooth integration and transformation is realised. “Following this, a high-level strategic implementation plan will be devised,” said Van Kent.
“Government is eager to ensure that service delivery is streamlined, effective and remains at all times efficient. It is for this reason that the higher education ministry appointed a board of directors that is tasked with ensuring operational efficiency and effectiveness.”
Van Kent was not willing to shed light on the pace of the reintegration, saying it was not for public consumption.
“Such decisions do not get discussed on the covers of newspapers until there is a concrete cabinet decision on the issue, and once a consolidated cabinet letter is prepared and information is disseminated. Thereto, as soon as that process is complete the public shall be informed,” said Van Kent.
Motivating the decision to reintegrate NSFAF back into her ministry, Kandjii-Murangi in 2017 said that after introspection, it was decided that the fund should move back into its line ministry.
“I believe it was better to revert NSFAF back to the parent ministry,” she said during the briefing at State House.
The chairperson of the National Assembly's standing committee on public accounts, Mike Kavekotora, recently said NSFAF's reintegration was “irrelevant”.
Kavekotora told a weekly newspaper last week that it would be better to find lasting solutions rather than just passing the fund to and fro.
“We should stop rotating the fund and look at solving the real challenges facing the fund, as this is not the solution. The current challenges we are dealing with started when it was with the ministry and how different is it going to be again going forward?” Kavekotora asked.
The new NSFAF board has also received a transformation agenda to turn around the embattled fund.
NSFAF was established in January 1997 to provide financial assistance to students at approved institutions of higher education.
The institution has over the years been embroiled in controversy over claims of corruption and financial mismanagement.
The fund's newly appointed board headed by Jerome Mutumba recently suspended CEO Hilya Nghiwete, pending an investigation into malpractice allegations.
In February the NSFAF top brass appeared before the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts after they had failed to turn up for a hearing before the standing committee on 27 November last year.
They said a sloppily managed transfer from the ministry of education in 2013 was responsible for the unaccounted for N$1.8 billion disbursed to students between 2007 and 2013.
Nghiwete acknowledged that the record management at the time was a “challenge”, saying there would be a time to approach the government on how to deal with beneficiaries that could not be traced since 1997.
She added that a 2016 reconciliation revealed that out of the more than N$1.7 billion, NSFAF should be able to trace about N$1.5 billion which had been disbursed to universities.
OGONE TLHAGE
This call was made by permanent secretary Alfred van Kent when asked to provide a reintegration update.
During a media briefing held in December 2017, higher education minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi announced that the fund would be reintegrated back into her ministry after a suggestion by President Hage Geingob to cabinet. Kandjii-Murangi shared her intent during the briefing to have the parastatal integrated back into the line ministry. Giving an update on the matter, Van Kent last week said the ministry was still engaged in technical consultations.
“For the ministry of higher education to remain prepared, it is necessary to inform ourselves of the various operational and technical aspects of the organisation, thus the need for technical consultations,” said Van Kent.
According to him, it is imperative for the education ministry to engage stakeholders in order to establish the facts, so that smooth integration and transformation is realised. “Following this, a high-level strategic implementation plan will be devised,” said Van Kent.
“Government is eager to ensure that service delivery is streamlined, effective and remains at all times efficient. It is for this reason that the higher education ministry appointed a board of directors that is tasked with ensuring operational efficiency and effectiveness.”
Van Kent was not willing to shed light on the pace of the reintegration, saying it was not for public consumption.
“Such decisions do not get discussed on the covers of newspapers until there is a concrete cabinet decision on the issue, and once a consolidated cabinet letter is prepared and information is disseminated. Thereto, as soon as that process is complete the public shall be informed,” said Van Kent.
Motivating the decision to reintegrate NSFAF back into her ministry, Kandjii-Murangi in 2017 said that after introspection, it was decided that the fund should move back into its line ministry.
“I believe it was better to revert NSFAF back to the parent ministry,” she said during the briefing at State House.
The chairperson of the National Assembly's standing committee on public accounts, Mike Kavekotora, recently said NSFAF's reintegration was “irrelevant”.
Kavekotora told a weekly newspaper last week that it would be better to find lasting solutions rather than just passing the fund to and fro.
“We should stop rotating the fund and look at solving the real challenges facing the fund, as this is not the solution. The current challenges we are dealing with started when it was with the ministry and how different is it going to be again going forward?” Kavekotora asked.
The new NSFAF board has also received a transformation agenda to turn around the embattled fund.
NSFAF was established in January 1997 to provide financial assistance to students at approved institutions of higher education.
The institution has over the years been embroiled in controversy over claims of corruption and financial mismanagement.
The fund's newly appointed board headed by Jerome Mutumba recently suspended CEO Hilya Nghiwete, pending an investigation into malpractice allegations.
In February the NSFAF top brass appeared before the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts after they had failed to turn up for a hearing before the standing committee on 27 November last year.
They said a sloppily managed transfer from the ministry of education in 2013 was responsible for the unaccounted for N$1.8 billion disbursed to students between 2007 and 2013.
Nghiwete acknowledged that the record management at the time was a “challenge”, saying there would be a time to approach the government on how to deal with beneficiaries that could not be traced since 1997.
She added that a 2016 reconciliation revealed that out of the more than N$1.7 billion, NSFAF should be able to trace about N$1.5 billion which had been disbursed to universities.
OGONE TLHAGE
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