Students up in arms over housing scam

A UNAM student has been suspended after he was implicated in an accommodation scam.

Jason Elago has been temporarily removed from his position as a member of the Hostel Housing Committee and from his hostel dormitory. The Namibian understands that Elago was suspended after he was accused of receiving bribes in exchange for helping students jump the queue and secure cheaper hostel rooms. Unam was unable to comment by the time of going to press yesterday.The State-owned New Era newspaper last week reported that students were paying as much as N$2 500 in bribes but Unam disputed the figure, saying its own probe had traced six students who had each paid N$1 000 or N$1 500, and not 25 students each paying N$2 500, as stated by the students quoted in the report.Unam Students’ Representative Council (SRC) Vice President John Pinto yesterday said the alleged scam was being investigated by the university’s Anti-Corruption Committee. The Unam SRC called a media briefing to distance themselves from the scam, saying no SRC members were implicated. SRC Secretary General Lydia Nghipandulua however was outraged and demanded an apology from New Era for alleging in the article that the scam was masterminded by ‘opportunistic SRC members’. She also threatened that the SRC would picket and boycott the sale of New Era.