Unam climbs down, re-admits Angolans

A GROUP of 165 Angolan students expelled by the University of Namibia because of claims that they forged academic qualifications will be re-enrolled by the institution.

The students won an out-of-court settlement after 11 of their colleagues had planned to launch an urgent application in the High Court today to have their expulsions and course cancellations declared unconstitutional and invalid. The settlement, reached two days ago, was confirmed to The Namibian yesterday by the two parties’ legal representatives.Norman Tjombe of the Legal Assistance Centre, who represented the students, charged that Unam had acted improperly by expelling his clients without proof that they were involved in the alleged forgery of Grade 12 certificates.”The report Mr [Zach] Kazapua [Unam’s Registrar] compiled only implicated four students, but they wrongly expelled 165 students who were not implicated in any way,” he said.Asked how the university could have taken such an arbitrary decision, Tjombe said: “It was just bureaucratic incompetence [by Unam authorities]”.Unam lawyer Clive Kavendjii, of Nate Ndauendapo & Associates, confirmed the out-of-court settlement but referred further queries to the university’s administration.But Unam’s Department of Communication and Marketing would not comment over the phone and asked The Namibian to put its queries in writing.Legal documents outlining the 11 students’ intention of taking Unam to the High Court were served on the university on Tuesday last week.Apart from seeking their reinstatement to the student body, the applicants were going to ask the court to order Unam to:* Enrol them immediately as students for the 2004 academic year; * Release the results of examinations they sat last October and November; and; * Tell those of the 11 who had applied to sit supplementary special exams the outcome of their applications.The 165 Angolans, plus nine Namibian students, were expelled late last year after Unam alleged that they were studying with falsified qualifications.A 28-year-old Angolan national resident in Namibia, Manuel Jose Andriano (alias ‘Nelu’), was later arrested and charged with fraud, forgery and uttering for allegedly supplying some Angolan students in Namibia with false academic papers.It was claimed the students paid ‘Nelu’ between US$300 and US$400 for every forged qualification or translation of a qualification he was supposed to have supplied.The fate of the nine Namibian students expelled along with the Angolans is as yet unknown.The settlement, reached two days ago, was confirmed to The Namibian yesterday by the two parties’ legal representatives. Norman Tjombe of the Legal Assistance Centre, who represented the students, charged that Unam had acted improperly by expelling his clients without proof that they were involved in the alleged forgery of Grade 12 certificates. “The report Mr [Zach] Kazapua [Unam’s Registrar] compiled only implicated four students, but they wrongly expelled 165 students who were not implicated in any way,” he said. Asked how the university could have taken such an arbitrary decision, Tjombe said: “It was just bureaucratic incompetence [by Unam authorities]”. Unam lawyer Clive Kavendjii, of Nate Ndauendapo & Associates, confirmed the out-of-court settlement but referred further queries to the university’s administration. But Unam’s Department of Communication and Marketing would not comment over the phone and asked The Namibian to put its queries in writing. Legal documents outlining the 11 students’ intention of taking Unam to the High Court were served on the university on Tuesday last week. Apart from seeking their reinstatement to the student body, the applicants were going to ask the court to order Unam to: * Enrol them immediately as students for the 2004 academic year; * Release the results of examinations they sat last October and November; and; * Tell those of the 11 who had applied to sit supplementary special exams the outcome of their applications. The 165 Angolans, plus nine Namibian students, were expelled late last year after Unam alleged that they were studying with falsified qualifications. A 28-year-old Angolan national resident in Namibia, Manuel Jose Andriano (alias ‘Nelu’), was later arrested and charged with fraud, forgery and uttering for allegedly supplying some Angolan students in Namibia with false academic papers. It was claimed the students paid ‘Nelu’ between US$300 and US$400 for every forged qualification or translation of a qualification he was supposed to have supplied. The fate of the nine Namibian students expelled along with the Angolans is as yet unknown.