By: Hertha Ekandjo
Namibia student financial assistance fund (NSFAF) acting CEO Kennedy Kandume says the amnesty period for students, which will commence on Friday, does not mean debt forgiveness.
Kandume said this during the launch of the NSFAF amnesty campaign earlier today in Windhoek.
The NSFAF amnesty period was announced in April this year by President Hage Geingob during his state of the nation address (SONA). It will last for 12 months, from 1 July 2022 to 31 June 2023.
“Waiving of interest doesn’t mean deb-forgiveness. It certainly doesn’t mean debt write-off!” Kandume exclaimed.
Kandume explained that waiving interest has made NSFAF loans cheaper and more affordable.
He emphasised that the repayment of funds is significant for NSFAF to continue functioning as a revolving fund.
“All debts that are due and payable, present and historical, will be waivered 100 per cent. This means that all interest accumulated will be written off affectively as of 1 July 2022,” said the CEO.
“All debts paid up to an amount equivalent to the principal amount should be considered as having been redeemed. This applies irrespective of whether paid up was before or during the amnesty,” he said as directed by the President.
According to the CEO, the institution is currently owed N$7.8 billion from beneficiaries. Of this amount, he says N$5.1 billion is the principal amount, while the interest rate is N$2.6 billion.
“Please note that amount due for payment is N$7.8 billion, th+at’s now the principal and the interest,” he said.
He further explained that the principal amount is N$5.1 billion, while the interest rate is N$2.6 billion.
Moreover, he said that the amount to be waivered is a public fund and that NSFAF would not have gone the path of waiving without consulting the ministry responsible for the public purse, which is the ministry of finance.
“NSFAF sought authorisation from the ministry of finance for waiving interest, and I am happy to announce the authorisation was granted,” he explained.
The CEO narrated that the principal amount remains due and payable. Thus NSFAF urged all debtors who are employed or have a source of income to make use of this opportunity to come forth and settle their debts.
During SONA, Geingob said that the government was aware that many NSFAF beneficiaries are finding it hard to pay back their loans to economic problems and other challenges.
“In this regard, to provide some relief, I announce an amnesty for the NSFAF debt repayment for 12 months,” said the President.
In October last year, NSFAF said about 52 000 student loan defaulters would see their names in local newspapers countrywide, as NSFAF had vowed to come for what it is owed.
NSFAF then said in a statement on its social media platforms that the publishing of names was to be followed by appropriate legal action.
After struggling for over a decade to get loan holders to pay back the money, NSFAF during that time decided to go public with all the names of those who owed the fund money and the first 2 000 names were set to be published in the same month.
At that time, Kandume said the defaulters left them no choice but to go public.
In less than a week in October 2021, about 228 defaulters reported to the NSFAF to repay their debts as the fund threatened to obtain court orders to go after defaulters’ assets.
The NSFAF has for years been struggling to collect the funds they have lent to over 52 000 former students, which is why they opted to expose defaulters in the media.
Reports show that the fund is owed N$5,2 billion by former students. NSFAF spent N$7,5 billion on loans and grants from 1997 to 2019.
