Labour ramifications for NSFAF reintegration

The process to reintegrate the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) into the ministry of higher education, technology and innovation has been set in motion, with a consultant now being sought to study the implications of any labour matters once the institution ceases to exist.

This follows a Cabinet decision taken on 9 February 2021 that the administration of NSFAF’s application and selection process should be managed by the ministry of higher education, while the administration of financing, funding and debt recovery processes should be managed by the finance ministry, or through a financial institution to be identified by that ministry.

During a media briefing 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.

The consultant would investigate any potential ramifications of the planned reintegration, NSFAF said in a bidding document.

“The overarching aim of the consultancy is to deal with labour matters during the process of reintegrating NSFAF into the ministry,” it said.

Consequences

The appointed consultant will be required to coordinate the approval process of the new reintegrated NSFAF structure, issue notices to staff and the Namibia Financial Institutions Union (Nafinu) - in line with Section 34 of the Labour Act and Recognition and Procedural Agreement - informing them by way of a memo of the intended reintegration and the effects thereof.

The consultant will also issue notices to the Office of the Labour Commissioner, in line with section 34 of the Labour Act, and handle recruitment processes where appropriate.

Staff members will also be required to compete for positions where it is found that the ministry of higher education will not be able to accommodate all NSFAF staff members.

“This will only happen if the approved structure cannot accommodate the entire current staff complement and thus an internal advertisement shall be published for staff to compete for available positions,” NSFAF said.

The consultant would also be required to match the employees to the approved structure, facilitate new staff appointments into the ministry and handle the mass termination of service of all NSFAF employees when it ceases to exist.

New conditions of service

The consultant will negotiate new conditions of service, which will include new offers, pension enhancement through the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) where appropriate and the provision of relief pay due to reduced basic pay.

“The consultant will further facilitate the negotiations of terminal benefits, which will include severance pay in line with Section 35 of the Labour Act and leave pay in line with the appropriate NSFAF policies,” the fund said.

The appointed consultant would be required to also facilitate negotiations for alternative employment where appropriate, the bid document said.

“The expected time frame is from 1 July to 30 November, whereupon a final report should be ready for discussion and tabling to the board of NSFAF before 31 November,” NSFAF said.

Poor governance

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.

In February, the fund’s 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 an unaccounted-for N$1.8 billion disbursed to students between 2007 and 2013.