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Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - Web posted at 9:39:53 pm GMT

Govt 'not obliged to subsidise university'

THE Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Employment Creation is not obliged to grant subsidies to the University of Namibia (Unam), Minister Nahas Angula said yesterday.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Angula said if Unam regarded the grants it received from Government as inadequate it "should note that the Minister is in fact not obliged to grant such subsidies".

The university was expected to generate its finances from any other sources in order to fill the gap that might exist, said Angula.

Angula's comments follow complaints by Unam that it had received inadequate funding from Government for this academic year.

Unam said its budgetary allocation of N$122 million from Government for the current academic year was well below its initial request of N$178 million for its operations and staff salaries.

Unam says it needs N$40 million in further financial support for staff development and strategic applied research.

Edwin Tjiramba, Unam's spokesman, said "the present allocation represents only a N$4,5 million (3,5 per cent) increase in subsidy, well below the inflation (rate)".

He stated the initial budget submission of N$178 million had included salary and benefit "adjustments justified by a recent remuneration survey".

Angula said in terms of the Constitution, the role of the Minister in the university was "extremely limited".

Regarding financial mismanagement at Unam, raised in the National Assembly recently, Angula said he had requested a meeting with the Unam Council through its Chairman Willem Konjore but "such requests were either rebuffed or politely ignored".

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