Matengu clinches UNAM’s Vice Chancellor seat
By Natasha Jacha
The Council of the University of Namibia has appointed Associate Professor Kenneth Matengu as the University’s third Vice Chancellor. His appointment will be effective from 1 August and will be for six years.
According to the Director: Communications and Marketing, Edwin Tjiramba, Matengu appointment followed an extensive recruitment process as required by the university statues and the university’s rules for the appointment.
Matengu will succeed Professor Lazarus Hangula, who heads for retirement from 31 July.
Currently Matengu is the Pro-Vice Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Development at UNAM and a UNAM alumnus and an Honorary Visiting Professor at the Cardiff University (Wales). He is also a distinguished researcher with global interrelations and a wide experience of leadership in academia.
Matengu joined the University as a student in 1996 and got hired in his second year as a Student Research Intern in the Multidisciplinary Research Centre, and since then he served the University in various capacities.
The Vice Chancellor role is chief academic and administrative officer of the university and reports to the University Council.
The Vice Chancellor’s core responsibility is to provide executive leadership and implement the policies of the University Council and to ensure that the university’s resources are used in ways that most effectively advance the approved mission and the strategic plan of the university.
