NTA board under fire

Unions and employers are concerned that their oversight over the vocational training fund of the Namibian Training Authority (NTA) is being undermined.

The Namibian Employers' Federation (NEF), the Namibian Employers Association (NEA), the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) and the Trade Union Congress of Namibia (Tucna) expressed their dissatisfaction in a joint statement last week over no longer being represented on the NTA board.

The organisations have threatened to suspend their contributions to the fund. Employers are the largest source of funding for the fund, as businesses with an annual turnover of more than N$1 million are obligated to contribute to the fund.

Demands by the dissatisfied organisations include the dissolution of the NTA board, declaring any board decisions unlawful and void, and the immediate appointment of new board members, as outlined in the Vocational Education and Training Act.

‘Red flags’

NEA president Henry Bruwer said his association is concerned about the appointment of the board and said it is worrisome that employers now have no say in the fund's spending.

"We see red flags as soon as there is a deviation from what the law prescribes," he said.

He said NEA members currently do not have access to the latest financial records of the fund or any other way to know how the money is being used.

NEF president Elia Shikongo said the concerned organisations wrote to higher education minister Dr. Itah Kandjii-Murangi in February last year.

"The minister responded on 27 February 2023, acknowledging that a mistake had been made and requested that four nominations for additional board members be made. However, this proposal is unacceptable," said Shikongo.

This is because the Act stipulates that the board must consist of 11 members, five of whom must be appointed by employer representatives on the advisory labour council and two by union representatives on that council, he explained.

Shikongo said the law explicitly requires the participation of unions and employers on the NTA board to enforce cooperation between them and government.

The current NTA board allegedly consists of representatives from the Development Bank of Namibia, Welwitchia Health Centre, Tucsin, the information and communication technology ministry and Uretek Ground Engineering.

"None of the new directors have been appointed by either the employer organisations' representatives or the union representatives, and it is also unclear on what basis they were appointed and whose interests they represent," said Shikongo.

Urgent meeting wanted

Kandjii-Murangi confirmed that she had requested nominations from the labour minister and has not yet received any feedback.

She said she appointed the current board on the recommendation of the state-owned enterprises ministry and that, in accordance with the Public Enterprises Governance Act (PEGA) of 2019, boards of state-owned enterprises may not consist of more than five or seven members.

Kandjii-Murangi said she had to convince Cabinet to appoint more than seven board members to the NTA board and that she will advocate for the expansion of the board again once she receives the nominations she expects from the labour ministry.

Last week, she said she intended to call an urgent meeting with the dissatisfied unions and employer organisations.

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