ACC dares AG to report ‘Covid rot’

The Office of the Auditor-General should not just be “a talking agency”, but must report corruption it discovers to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the commission’s director-general Paulus Noa said yesterday, amid shocking findings into how government handled billions of dollars meant to mitigate the effects of Covid-19.To this, Auditor-General Junias Kandjeke retorted that corruption “is the duty of the ACC”, adding that his mandate, as per law, ends with auditing public institutions’ finances.Namibian Sun spoke to both Noa and Kandjeke in light of the latter’s report into government spending at the height of the pandemic – as reported in New Era yesterday.Noa said the Office of the Auditor-General ought to report cases of corruption where it comes across clear evidence of such incidences.According to the ACC boss, Kandjeke should not just release reports and leave it there, saying the auditor-general is empowered to report his findings to law enforcement agencies like the ACC and the Namibian Police.Kandjeke’s report into Covid spending pointed to potential corrupt handling of government finances meant to help contain the devastating impacts of the virus.Stimulus package used dubiouslyGovernment availed an N$8.1 billion stimulus package in 2020 to mitigate the effects of Covid-19, which included N$5.9 billion for direct support to businesses, households and cash-flow acceleration payments for services rendered to government.The Covid-19 audit report by Kandjeke highlighted how government contracts were dished out without following the Procurement Act, which even in emergency situations requires that more than one supplier of goods or services be sought for consideration.The Act states that direct procurement is permitted “where only one supplier has the exclusive right to manufacture the goods or to supply the goods, works or services to be procured, and no suitable alternative is available”.There was no evidence that multiple suppliers were considered in order to make the process competitive. Kandjeke labelled this as a “blatant defiance of the law”.AG empowered to report corruptionSharing his views, Noa said while audit report findings varied in nature, those pointing to obvious corruption empowered Kandjeke to report such.“It depends on what the report reveals. Did it reveal a case of corruption that falls within the mandate of the ACC or a compliance matter that can be dealt with [at the level of the concerned institution]? The auditor-general should not just be a talking agency, the auditor-general should open cases,” he said.“It all depends on what the findings revealed."Kandjeke said his office’s mandate was to carry out audits of public institutions in line with its governing act.“We work with the law. If you go to the law, I am an auditor. There are regulations and policies. When it comes to corruption, it is the duty of the ACC. When it comes to human rights, it is the duty of the Office of the Ombudsman. If I find corruption, I inform [the involved stakeholders], but our main aim is to conduct audits.”Buck stops with accounting officersKandjeke felt that the buck needed to stop with the accounting officers of public institutions to report instances of corruption to the relevant authorities. In this case, the accounting officers concerned are the executive directors of the Office of the Prime Minister, the health ministry and the ministry of finance, who handled the distribution of the Covid-19 funds.“I agree, the auditor-general can have more power, but you ideally want the employer to take action.”He further noted that there were instances where individuals cross over from one public institution to another, particularly at the level of local authorities.“The problem is the system, not individuals. That’s my view. Even if we start removing people, the system allows people to come back. What can our office do? I am not running away from my responsibilities,” he added.According to the report, compliance regarding procurement was unsatisfactory.“Compliance with the Procurement Act was unsatisfactory, based on our findings. In a disaster situation, government offices, ministries and agencies needed to act swiftly, [whatever] the emergency,” it read.

ACC dares AG to report ‘Covid rot’

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ACC dares AG to report ‘Covid rot’

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