The Sum of Two Falsehoods

NUST Spokesperson reacts to Confidante’s article

On 05 April 2024, an article titled “Still Hunted; ACC orders NUST Council to open probe on Vice Chancellor Naomab”, was published in the Confidante Newspaper. The article was authored by freelance journalist Mr Kaipaherue Kandjii.

The article fails journalism miserably by coming short on upholding basic principles of news reporting that are promptly taught to green freshmen.  Novelty and accuracy are among such principles in journalism.  It is therefore an aberration to this noble profession to witness a report on activities from the previous year, presented as if they are new developments. It is further not considered great journalism when a journalist recycles his own unsubstantiated claims or tells half-truths.

The article unveils a false sense of crisis at Namibia’s leading science and technology university. The reality is, NUST is occupied with fulfilling its mandate. NUST is currently engaged with the national task of graduating thousands of students who are the future of this country, the region and the world. And perhaps more significantly, NUST will confer an Honorary Doctorate to a leader of a local traditional authority, something hitherto unseen in Namibia. Deliberate misinformation about NUST can’t be tolerated.

ACC Never ordered a probe

The first falsehood presented in the article is that the ACC has ordered the NUST Council to do a probe. The facts are that the Anti-Corruption Commission has this year, never ordered or caused the NUST Council to take any action that they were not already busy with. The heading of this article is therefore false. The truth is that there is currently no active file of NUST at the ACC that relates to the Vice Chancellor. This has been confirmed by the ACC’s Public Relations Officer, on 28 March 2024, both verbally and in writing. I therefore, confidently encourage any truth seeking journalist to engage the ACC directly.

Council is ceased with the matter

The process of evaluating the allegations levelled against the Vice Chancellor, is in process. The public will therefore be informed once the Council has completed its due process. However, waiting for the outcome of a process that has already been widely reported on, is a concept that seems to elude some journalists. What is more peculiar is that on 7 February 2024, the same journalist penned an article in the Windhoek Observer, titled ACC Probes Allegations against NUST Boss- this was another false headline. Though the article is more than a month old, it recycles the same false claims and repeats quotes that stem from mid last year. I have much doubt that this most recent article would pass a plagiarism test on any standard software.

NUST took action first

The second falsehood is a gross inaccuracy.  While it is true that there was correspondence between the ACC and the NUST Council on this topic last year, the article omits to mention that the NUST Council decided how to deal with the matter, long before the ACC engaged it. The ongoing process by the Council was therefore, not a consequence of the ACC’s correspondence as Mr Kandjii would lead the public to believe. The correspondence by the ACC last year was inquisitive and not instructional.

The last written correspondence between NUST and the ACC, happened mid last year, during which the ACC was informed that the University Council is in the process of dealing with issues raised through its established internal processes. This resolution was taken by the previous Council and is being continued by the current Council. This is not new either. The ACC, at no point, seemed unsatisfied with the approach by either of the NUST Councils.

Something nefarious

The sum of these two purported falsehoods suggests a grim intention to make the Vice Chancellor appear guilty, long before his due process is completed.  How else can we explain why there is a persistent reluctance from select journalists to wait for the due process to be completed and report on real outcomes? I leave that to the public to make up their own minds.

Repudiation

On the strength of these refutations, let it be known that deliberate or accidental attempts to prejudicially soil the reputation of any NUST staff member in the court of public opinion or otherwise, will be met with frank and unrelenting repudiation.

I encourage this journalist to re-orient himself with journalistic principles earlier stated, and to practice ethical reporting by Seeking the Truth and Reporting it, and Minimizing Harm- concepts he seems to have, for whatever reason, far strayed away from.  

Issued by John Haufiku