Job is dragging my name through the mud - Kandjii-Murangi

JEMIMA BEUKES WINDHOEKHigher education minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi says the alleged agreement between government and a foreign university does not exist, adding that Affirmative Repositioning movement activist Job Amupanda is dragging her name through the mud “for reasons only known to him”.She rubbished claims that she used her influence to get government to bankroll the set-up of a Limkokwing University campus in Namibia.Amupanda accused her of spearheading the deal with the Malaysian university in order to rake in at least N$80 million from government and students per year.“What bone do I have to pick with Amupanda, unless you are telling me that he has handlers?” she asked.Amupanda yesterday leaked an unsigned ‘secret’ 12-year agreement that suggests that the Namibian government committed to bankroll the set-up of a Centre of Excellence for Technical Vocational Education and Training.The centre was set to be manned by foreigners for the first two years of its operations, after which Namibians would take the reins.The agreement stipulated that the training programmes would be expanded to all public vocational training centres and community skills development centres across the country.The Limkokwing centre would also be occupied with the validation of all courses offered through the centre and provide overarching quality assurance supervision.BullyingAccording to Amupanda, this is part of a bigger plan to replace the existing Namibia Training Authority as well as the Namibia Qualification Authority.Government also committed to provide the land on which the new Limkokwing campus would be built, while the institution would provide the necessary equipment and training material, and the Namibian staff members would be identified and appointed by mutual agreement between that university and the higher education ministry.Meanwhile, the Namibian government allegedly also committed to sponsoring the training of 20 master trainers annually as well as to provide a minimum of 2 000 students for the duration of the agreement.After the completion of the 12-year period, the centre was set to raise funds to support its operations by charging student fees from prospective students, as well as receiving sponsorships from private companies.It is not known when the document was drafted, seeing that one of the targets was to reportedly “train 25 000 trainees by the year 2020 to address youth unemployment”.Kandjii-Murangi has long been accused of masterminding this deal with Limkokwing and of allegedly bullying the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund staff to give preferential treatment to Namibian students at Limkokwing University in Malaysia.jemima@namibiansun.com

Job is dragging my name through the mud - Kandjii-Murangi

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-01

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Job is dragging my name through the mud - Kandjii-Murangi

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-01

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