Higher education ED reshuffled after three months

Just three months after her appointment as executive director (ED) of the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Tuyakula Haipinge has been replaced and reassigned to the Office of the Prime Minister.Secretary to the Cabinet George Simataa confirmed the reshuffle following the announcement of Gerard Norman Vries as the new ED of the higher education ministry. Haipinge’s transfer, effective immediately, places her in the Bureau of the Prime Minister, a unit providing support in policy formulation, research, speech writing, and managerial and advisory services.Simataa explained, “Ms. Tuyakula Haipinge has been transferred to the Office of the Prime Minister as the ED in the bureau.”It remains unclear why Haipinge was reassigned after such a short tenure in the higher education ministry. Haipinge had assumed the role in October 2023 following the retirement of Dr. Alfred van Kent. Prior to that, she served as deputy executive director in the Office of the Prime Minister.In contrast, Vries, the newly appointed ED, previously held the position of deputy executive director for lifelong learning, arts, and culture in the ministry of education, arts, and culture.Corruption allegations haunt higher education ministryThe higher education ministry has faced scrutiny over allegations of corruption linked to the office of the ED. In 2023, reports surfaced that funds were being solicited from public enterprises resorting under the higher education ministry to finance foreign trips for minister Dr. Itah Kandjii-Murangi.Although the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) later cleared Kandjii-Murangi, it required her to repay some of the money received. Additionally, Van Kent, the previous ED, received a formal warning against engaging in similar practices. This is after he was the one who wrote letters to the public enterprises under the ministry, namely the University of Namibia (Unam), Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) and the Namibia Training Authority (NTA), asking them to avail funds to finance the minister's trips. The three institutions contributed a combined N$930 000.The ACC stated at the time: “The executive director is seriously warned against the potentially corrupt habit of committing the ministry to financial debts through requests for travel payments from public enterprises, especially when the conferences and meetings to be attended have no bearing on benefiting such public institutions.”“This practice is not only ethically wrong but also creates fertile ground for corruption.” Kandjii-Murangi is one of the current nine ministers who failed to make the list of 51 Swapo members elected to parliament in the November general election. - kenya@nmh-hub.com.na.

Higher education ED reshuffled after three months

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-07

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Higher education ED reshuffled after three months

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-07

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