TUN wants NSFAF top brass fired
The Teachers Union of Namibia has welcomed the government's decision to reintegrate the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) into the higher education ministry.
The higher education minister, Itah Kandjii Murangi, last week confirmed that it had been decided to strip NSFAF of its parastatal status and move it back into the ministry as a mere department following a string of media reports over corruption and financial mismanagement.
NSFAF was established in January 1997 to provide financial assistance to students at approved institutions of higher education.
The institution has to date been managed as a parastatal.
TUN secretary-general Mahongora Kavihuhua on Friday strongly urged the government not to take the current management on as directors, saying they were useless.
“The way they have failed to pay out student funds and to keep proper records is proof enough that they are not capable for the job.
I would like to know why is it so difficult to get rid of incompetent CEOs but so easy to get rid of competent ones?” asked Kavihuha.
Meanwhile, public policy expert Graham Hopwood believes there is a need for improving the governance of government ministries and state-owned enterprises alike.
He drew attention to the historical challenges the bursary fund had experienced while it was still part of the education ministry before it became an independent body.
“I am not clear that moving it back into the ministry will solve the problems affecting it. Both the state-owned enterprises and government have a massive governance problem. Government must therefore say what management changes it intends to bring about to improve the governance of the fund,” he said.
It is not the first time that a call has been made for the fund's management to be fired.
In November, The Villager newspaper reported that Rally for Democracy and Progress member of parliament Mike Kavekotora had called for the immediate firing of the fund.
Kavekotora was quoted as saying: “We all know that NSFAF in its current form is a mess. Management is running this fund to the ground”.
Bad record
NSFAF has been embroiled in controversy over claims of corruption and financial mismanagement.
The situation at the institution has become so dire that in 2016 the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Ministry of Public Enterprises were prompted to investigate its procurement procedures.
The fund has on several occasions failed to provide documents to verify the loans and scholarships it had awarded to Namibian students.
It has also admitted that it had lost the records of some loan and grant recipients.
Last year Namibian Sun reported 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.
The fund has since appointed a debt-collection company to help it recover these funds.
JEMIMA BEUKES
The higher education minister, Itah Kandjii Murangi, last week confirmed that it had been decided to strip NSFAF of its parastatal status and move it back into the ministry as a mere department following a string of media reports over corruption and financial mismanagement.
NSFAF was established in January 1997 to provide financial assistance to students at approved institutions of higher education.
The institution has to date been managed as a parastatal.
TUN secretary-general Mahongora Kavihuhua on Friday strongly urged the government not to take the current management on as directors, saying they were useless.
“The way they have failed to pay out student funds and to keep proper records is proof enough that they are not capable for the job.
I would like to know why is it so difficult to get rid of incompetent CEOs but so easy to get rid of competent ones?” asked Kavihuha.
Meanwhile, public policy expert Graham Hopwood believes there is a need for improving the governance of government ministries and state-owned enterprises alike.
He drew attention to the historical challenges the bursary fund had experienced while it was still part of the education ministry before it became an independent body.
“I am not clear that moving it back into the ministry will solve the problems affecting it. Both the state-owned enterprises and government have a massive governance problem. Government must therefore say what management changes it intends to bring about to improve the governance of the fund,” he said.
It is not the first time that a call has been made for the fund's management to be fired.
In November, The Villager newspaper reported that Rally for Democracy and Progress member of parliament Mike Kavekotora had called for the immediate firing of the fund.
Kavekotora was quoted as saying: “We all know that NSFAF in its current form is a mess. Management is running this fund to the ground”.
Bad record
NSFAF has been embroiled in controversy over claims of corruption and financial mismanagement.
The situation at the institution has become so dire that in 2016 the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Ministry of Public Enterprises were prompted to investigate its procurement procedures.
The fund has on several occasions failed to provide documents to verify the loans and scholarships it had awarded to Namibian students.
It has also admitted that it had lost the records of some loan and grant recipients.
Last year Namibian Sun reported 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.
The fund has since appointed a debt-collection company to help it recover these funds.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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