Govt approves N$15m for NTA's farm project
The government through the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) has approved a N$15 million budget provision for a proposed farm acquisition linked to the Okakarara Vocational Training Centre (OVTC), as part of efforts to expand agricultural training opportunities for vocational students.
The allocation forms part of the NTA's 2025/26 Key Priority roll-over budget and was approved through interim governance arrangements following the expiry of the authority's board earlier this year.
The development follows years of discussion around plans to establish an agricultural training farm for OVTC, a project aimed at providing students with practical, hands-on training while supporting the introduction and expansion of agriculture-related vocational programmes.
Responding to questions from the Network Media Hub (NMH), NTA’s spokesperson Mornay Louw, confirmed that provision had been made in its budget for a potential farm acquisition project associated with OVTC.
“The budget, including this provision, formed part of the NTA's annual budgeting process and, in the absence of a Board, was submitted to our line ministry in accordance with applicable interim governance requirements. The ministry reviewed the budget and concurred with its approval," Louw said.
Louw said that no acquisition has been made yet by the parastatal. .
“To date, no farm has been identified, no purchase agreement has been concluded, and no farm has been acquired by the NTA. Consequently, no acquisition transaction has taken place,” Louw told NMH.
According to NTA, plans to acquire a farm for OVTC date back to at least 2018 and form part of a strategic initiative to introduce agricultural training programmes at the institution.
The parastatal said the inclusion of a budgetary provision should not be interpreted as a decision to acquire a specific property, adding that any future acquisition would still be subject to governance, due diligence and legislative requirements.
The project has nevertheless attracted attention amid ongoing debate over governance arrangements at the authority following the expiry of the NTA Board of Directors' term in January.
When asked under whose authority the budgetary provision was approved, Louw maintained that all operational and administrative decisions taken during the period were made within existing delegations of authority and under ministerial oversight.
“In the absence of an active board of directors, its operations and administrative decisions were undertaken at all times within approved delegations of authority and subject to ministerial governance oversight,” Louw said.
A N$944 million budget is approved for NTA’s 2026/27 financial year.
Established in 1977, the OVTC remains the country’s oldest centre under the NTA, and conducts its operations under the realm of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Act of 2008, which makes provision for the management and control of all state-owned vocational training centres.
Executive director at the ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts & Culture, Erastus Haitengela, confirmed the approval.
“The NTA’s 2025/26 Key Priority roll-over budget, which includes provision for a potential farm acquisition project associated with the Okakarara Vocational Training Centre (OVTC), was submitted to the Ministry in accordance with applicable interim governance requirements following the expiry of the NTA Board’s term.
“The Ministry reviewed the budget and concurred with its approval. It must be noted, however, that budgetary provision does not constitute an acquisition decision,” Haitengela told NMH.
According to Haitengela, the budget allocation merely provides for a possible project and does not amount to a decision to buy a specific farm.
“The inclusion of a budgetary provision in the NTA’s approved budget does not constitute a decision to acquire a specific property. Any such acquisition would remain subject to the applicable governance and due diligence requirements prescribed by relevant legislation, ministerial oversight, and NTA policies and procedure,” he explained.
Three years ago, OVTC’s centre manager, Moses Tjirare, told media that they had submitted a request to NTA for approval to register a business arm which will be run on stringent business principles away from the centre’s operations.
“This farm will also be used for short courses for farmworkers and farmers in the Otjozondjupa region and surrounding regions. Speaking about infrastructure improvement and introducing new courses at OVTC, training equipment, especially for the technical trades, remains a challenge. Given the budgetary allocations from the Treasury, VTC’s countrywide must come up with new ways and means to source for income,” Tjirare said at the time.
