Ms Scholastika Ndeumona Mwetulundila
CA Candidate
Interview Posted on 28.10.13

I am Scholastika Ndeumona Mwetulundila, the last born of 8 siblings born to the late Tate Josef aka ‘Kamboloto KAambandja’ Amutenya yaMbwiti yaAshipala and Meme Anatolia Nankali yaMengela. I was born at Anamulenge Health Centre and grew up at Oupembe village near Anamulenge in the Ombalantu district of the Omusati Region. I started school at Anamulenge Primary School until Grade 4, then continued with Grades 5-7 at the erstwhile Okavu Combined School now John Alfons Pandeni Combined School. I continued with Grades 8-12 at St Josephs RC High School, Dobra, Windhoek where I completed HIGCSE in 4 subjects, namely English, Mathematics, Physical Science and Biology, and also History and Geography on IGCSE level.

Following my passion for Accounting I did my undergraduate degree in Accounting at UNAM which I graduated Cum laude or First class. Subsequently, I furthered my studies at the Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa where I graduated with Post-graduate Diploma in Accounting. This Diploma is one of the qualifications needed in order to become a Chartered Accountant (CA), Following that I completed and passed my Initial Test of Competence (ITC) also known as Board 1 Exams which is set by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountant (SAICA), which the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Namibia (ICAN) recognises as their exams setter. Currently, I am in my first year of Articles or training programme at Deloitte Namibia.

2. How many languages do you speak and who is your role model?

I speak English and Oshiwambo fluently, I understand Afrikaans very well, Otjiherero well and very little of Xhosa and Shona.

My role model is Jesus Christ as all I do and live for starts and ends with him, however God used people here on earth to inspire on the plans he has for my life.

My biggest role model is my elder sister Petrina Nandjila Owusu-Afriyie (nee Mwetulundila), she has always believed in me and given me every opportunity to dream and achieve my dreams, and I believe God has worked through her for me to become the woman I am today. My parents are also my role models as they loved me and given me the best that they could at that point in time.

3. I was going through your profile as a former learner of John Alphons Pandeni Combined School (formerly Okavu Combined School) on the school’s website and as soon as read that you are doing articles to become a CA, I paused for a while and asked myself whether I do really understand what you are doing. It certainly looks like something new that I have not heard before being studied especially by learners from that part of the Namibia.
Maybe you can tell us what you mean by doing articles and what is CA all about?

CA firstly stands for Chartered Accountant, which is a profession regulated by the ICAN (Institute of Chartered Accountants in Namibia). In order to qualify as a CA you need to do articles for 3 years with a registered training firm (also known as an audit firm) after having completed university qualifications at an SAICA/ICAN recognised institution i.e. your undergraduate and post graduate qualifications. However they are other means of becoming a CA, please see the link on how to become a CA and more on the career on the link below.
http://www.icancpd.net/2007/index.php?&menu=career.php

However, what I mainly do through articles is external audits for State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and corporate companies.

4. Give us three reasons why CAs (Charted Accountants) are important?

• CAs is primarily important to every economy and especially in a public sector which currently we have a few of them or none at all.

• CAs are highly skilled individuals, due to rigorous training they go through during articles as one gets see and understands different businesses and how they operate. At the moment my client portfolio includes a banking institution, a medical aid institution, a telecommunication company, a mining company and many other businesses in one. Thus, at the end of the 3 years I would have gained extensive knowledge about all these businesses.

• CAs uphold integrity and excellence in the financial world as the profession is regulated by ICAN, thus having a CA in your business people already expect excellence and great results financially from a business owner. Because if one is found on the wrong side of the law one’s CA qualification can be withdrawn.

5. What subjects should one take at school if he or she wants to become a CA?

Mathematics is very crucial, however Accounting is also important. Further refer to http://www.icancpd.net/2007/index.php?&menu=career.php

However, I followed this career because of the passion I have for what I do now and not because I had the right subjects. I went to a science field school, but I sought advice and I was advised that I should ensure that I do well in Mathematics especially.

6. What are the entry requirements and why are you not doing it with UNAM or Polytechnic?

During my time, neither UNAM nor PoN were recognised institutions by ICAN, thus I couldn’t complete all my qualifications I needed with UNAM. So after my undergraduate studies I had to do a 1 year bridging course at Rhodes University before I proceeded to do my post graduate for a year. However, at this time UNAM now has a programme recognised by ICAN which they are doing in conjunction with the University of North West in South Africa. I know UNAM takes about 40 students a year into the programme; however I am not very sure about the entry requirements.

7. What is Deloitte all about?

Deloitte is one of the big four professional services firms globally along with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young, and KPMG. At the moment Deloitte is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and the number of professionals.

To bring it back home:
Deloitte Namibia website http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_NA/na/index.htm
Our main business here is external audit services, but we also offer other services as one will see on the website.

8. If one becomes a CA what type of career opportunities will be available?

One can really become anything one wants to be in the financial world. Some of the generic options are being External Auditors, Tax Consultants, Internal auditors, Managing Director  of companies, for example Svene Thieme, the MD of O&L is a CA by profession.

However, the opportunities are vast, and CA’s produced in Namibia and SA are well recognised and respected globally, thus you can work anywhere in the world with this qualification.

9. What is the difference between studying CA and other accounting qualifications?

I believe CA is an all-round of the accounting qualifications that I know, if one does a taxation degree, one is restricted to Tax, however a CA can do Tax and all other things like I mentioned earlier.

10. Do we have enough CAs in Namibia?

No, not at all, at the moment ICAN has about over 400 registered CAs, however of that number, not all of them are based in Namibia. Some are workings overseas.  To put it in perspective we have a population of 2.1 million, and we have roughly 300 CAs based in Namibia, that means we have 1 CA per 7000 people, that means if you have a business which serves more than 7000 people, you at least needs a CA in your business to be confident in the financial wealth and reporting of your company and 2 if you serve more than 14 000 and so on.

11. Having attended school in rural areas, did it disadvantage you in anyway as you are advancing your studies?

Not at all, I always took every opportunity presented to me, but one thing I had to learn being from a conservative background was to speak up and always give my opinion and also ask questions if I am unclear about something.

12. What message do you have for our youth/students?

If you are a Namibian youth I don’t see any reason why you are not achieving your dreams, I don’t understand why youth are not determined to achieve their dreams, all they want is quick money, one lesson I learnt in life is either you ‘pay today or you pay dearly tomorrow’, because the choices one makes today, will bring results in future, be it bad or good. 

NSFAF(Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund) is there to provide funds to anyone who passes and work hard, the youth needs to take up the responsibility of their own future, if you have a qualification or experience no one can take it away from you, it is for you to take and keep. Thus never think you are doing anyone a favour by studying, you are doing yourself a favour.

This is one youth who is very inspiring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai , Malala is one of the inspiring girl and she reminds me that if one wants to achieve ones dreams, nothing can stop them.

13. In your view, is CA an ideal career for men or women?

CA is a demanding career, but so is the qualification of getting there. Most specialised career are ideal for men as women become mothers and have a responsibility of being with their families, however I believe women can succeed in this career with the  support of their spouses . One example of a successful woman in this career is Mrs Nangula Uaandja, the first black woman Chartered Accountant http://www.pwc.com/na/en/partners-and-associate-directors/nangula-uaandja.jhtml and I am on my way as well.

14. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Tough question, I have a lot on my mind at the moment, but one is definitely being a qualified CA, but the rest I am still trying to see what comes first. For the rest watch the space.

15. If you are given N$1 million as a gift how are you going to spend it?

I will invest it through buying of shares.

16. If you are given power to change something in Namibia, what would it be and why?

I will change the mind-set of the youth, because they are the future leaders, we need to realise that as much as we can have awesome national policies, they will be nothing other than being nice on paper if the people who are suppose to execute are of the mind which is full of corruption and greediness.
Our leaders need to realise that what we do on earth we have to answer to God one day, thus we should be good stewardship of what we have been given or entrusted to us.

17. Do you have any other thing that you would like to share with us?

For all I am or will ever become, I give glory to God, he has carried me through thin and think, he has blessed me beyond I have ever asked or imagined and a big thank you to my family and friends who stood with me. A big thank you to my entire lecturers at UNAM and Rhodes University who always believed in me and my dreams.

For anyone who have questions on the CA career or just needs encouragement on how to achieve what keeps them awake at night, Email me at ndeumona@gmail.com.

Lastly I leave you with Psalm 139.

Thank you Tate Kashindi for this opportunity. May God bless you in all you do.

Thank you Ndeumona for your inspiration, guidance and motivation and your time. I really believe that the Lord will guide you through your studies so that you will be able to serve this nation at the end of your trainin/studies.

Graduation Ceremony at Rhodes University, South Africa

Beautiful afternoon at Goche Ganas.