Justicia Shipena
The Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement has called on the government to use the new Pension-Backed Home Loan Scheme (PBHLS) as a starting point for wider housing reform that also includes landless and low-income communities.
The call follows the announcement by the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) on Friday that the PBHLS begins today.
The scheme allows government employees to use part of their pension savings to buy, build or renovate homes.
While welcoming the move, AR said the scheme mainly benefits formally employed public servants and does not address the housing needs of most Namibians living in informal settlements.
AR spokesperson and head of communications George Kambala said informal workers, unemployed youth, elderly people and low-income families remain excluded from pension systems and formal housing finance, despite facing the most severe housing challenges.
Kambala said the scheme should be used as a foundation for a broader housing reform that speeds up the delivery of serviced land, supports self-built housing, expands low-cost housing finance and upgrades informal settlements.
AR said the decision by GIPF marks a major shift for public servants, including teachers, nurses, police officers and other government employees, who can now turn years of service into home ownership.
According to Kambala, the scheme helps correct a long-standing situation where workers retired with pension savings but remained trapped in overcrowded housing or informal settlements.
AR said housing is a basic human right and that access to a home improves family stability, education outcomes, health and economic participation.
Kambala said the same political will shown in introducing the pension-backed loan scheme must now be extended to those without land, stable income or access to credit.
AR said 2026 should be remembered as the year Namibia moved from managing homelessness to ending it by shifting from policy promises to action that puts people first.
The scheme allows active GIPF members to use a portion of their pension as security to buy land, purchase a home, build a house or improve their existing property.
It also allows members to transfer existing home loans from commercial banks into the scheme.
The scheme will be administered by First Capital Treasury Solutions and Kuleni Financial Services.
Members have been advised not to go to GIPF offices, as applications will be processed through the two administrators via their offices, websites or human resources departments.
GIPF’s general manager for marketing and stakeholder engagement, Edwin Tjiramba, said the scheme is designed to expand access to housing without placing retirement benefits at risk.
“The PBHLS will enable active members to access a portion of their pension savings as collateral for the purchase of an erven, improvements to an existing home, the purchase of a new home or the construction of a home in both urban and rural areas,” Tjiramba said.
He said the scheme is currently available only to active government employees and members on disability, while other participating employers such as state-owned enterprises and mission hospitals will be included once agreements are finalised.
According to GIPF, the loan cannot be used to consolidate non-housing debt or to buy movable items such as vehicles, furniture or household appliances. The scheme is strictly for housing-related purposes.
GIPF said loans under the scheme will attract a variable interest rate linked to the Bank of Namibia (BoN) repo rate plus 2.5%, which currently places the interest rate at 9.0%. Monthly repayments may change if the repo rate is adjusted.
Members may access up to 33.33% of their pension credit, a level GIPF said was set based on actuarial assessments to protect the long-term sustainability of the fund.
Tjiramba said the structure of the scheme ensures that members’ pensions remain protected.
“The PBHLS is designed in such a manner that active members’ retirement will not be negatively impacted, as all outstanding loan amounts would have been repaid by the time the member reaches retirement,” he said.
