The Minister of Education, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, announced that she will conduct an objective assessment of an advertised vacancy at the University of Namibia (UNAM), due to close on Thursday. The positions in question are for Chief Operating Officer and Senior Executive Director for Student Wellness, advertised by UNAM’s Council.

Minister Steenkamp’s intervention follows concerns raised by Associate Professor Job Ampunda, leader of the Academic Representative (AR) group, about the legality of the recruitment process. Ampunda questioned the authority of the UNAM Council to recruit a Chief Operating Officer, citing the UNAM Act No. 18, which he says contains no provision for such a role. He labeled the process a violation of the principle of legality:

“Did the minister authorize the university council to do what they are doing? And if the minister has authorized in terms of what legal provision? I really spent this morning trying to look at PEGA, trying to look at UNAM Act. I couldn't find anything. Purely an unlawful activity by people who teach law and who are supposed to lead by example,” he said.

In response, Dr. Steenkamp said she has been in discussions with UNAM’s Vice-Chancellor regarding the vacancies and will investigate the legalities once the university presents the relevant facts. She also noted that UNAM currently does not have an appointed council:

“That is something I can state and then also we are in the process of appointing so there is no council at the moment at the University of Namibia. Also, we just also to be transparent in that regard that we are in the process of appointing the council,” she said.