Unam Accommodation Spruced Up

Catherine Sasman

16 June 2011

CONSTRUCTION on a N$160 million hostel complex for Unam will start soon after the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.

The complex, at the back of the Unam campus along Hendrik Witbooi Avenue, will accommodate 800 students.

Slightly more than 1 000 of the 10 000 students on the main campus live in the university’s hostels. The rest of the student population commute from home and the majority whose parents are not Windhoek-based live in often cramped conditions.

The hostel contract, which was landed by a South African outfit together with a local Black Economic Empowerment company featuring three top civil servants among its shareholders, has been shrouded in secrecy since it was awarded.

Ndeutala Angolo-Amutenya, one of the shareholders in the BEE partnership, is the permanent secretary in the Office of the President and also the vice-chairperson of the Unam Council.

At the time the deal was announced she was accused of conflict of interest for allegedly not having declared her interest. She denied this, saying she had recused herself from discussions pertaining to the tender. Concerns persisted though that she had access to critical information about the project.

Yesterday, Education Minister Abraham Iyambo said at the groundbreaking ceremony that Government finds it difficult to provide sufficient funds to accommodate ever-increasing student and staff numbers.

The Pro-Vice Chancellor of Unam, Dr Boniface Mutumba, said 3 000 applications for campus accommodation were received this year, but that the institution has a current capacity of only 1 080 rooms.

For this financial year, Government allocated N$721 million to Unam – which falls short of the more than N$1 billion requested by the Unam management.

Of the allotted funding, N$541,8 million is for operational costs, and N$179,5 million for development.

Under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement, Unam provided the land, and BEE outfit Hanganeni Emona, whose directors include James Hatuikulipi and Sackey Shangala, invested more than N$100 million in the hostel project.

Shangala said the Hanganeni enterprise raised the money through financial institutions.

In 2002 the Unam Foundation explored corporate sponsorship for the new student residence. According to Unam public relations officer Utaara Hoveka, there was little interest due to low investment returns.

The Foundation then explored other means through a PPP, allowing corporate partners the right to operate the facilities to agreed standards for their own account for a certain period to recover their investment and generate financial returns.

The first advertisement went out in April 2002, with the initial bidder pulling out of the project.

A second round of advertisements went out in 2003, in which five proposals were shortlisted, and the preferred bidder eventually also pulled out.

A deal was subsequently struck with Hanganeni Emona in December 2007.

Hoveka said the new partnership has met Unam’s low fee threshold through the use of more cost-effective designs and construction technology.

Hanganeni Emona is a consortium comprising of Hanganeni Investment Holdings with a 51 per cent shareholding, and South African-based Academia Cape (49 per cent shareholding).

Hoveka said the locally registered Academia Namibia (Pty) Ltd will manage and maintain the student facilities.

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