Defence ministry too big to go unchecked, Angula says
'It just takes one senior person doing something wrong for others to follow'
The veteran politician warned last week that many in the country are driven by conspicuous consumption, which he said goes hand in hand with a troubling decline in morals and ethics.
Former defence minister Nahas Angula has warned that Namibia’s defence ministry cannot be left unchecked, insisting that “there must be oversight, independent oversight” to safeguard billions in taxpayers’ money.
His remarks follow persistent concerns that there are inadequate checks on how the ministry, which takes up a huge chunk of the national budget, uses money allocated to it. Observers argue that the ministry often cites national security to avoid full accountability.
"There must be oversight. Independent oversight. Because if you give the ministry six billion, that’s a lot of money,” Angula said in an interview on Network Television’s Evening Review last Tuesday.
"There must be guidance, some system in place, to ensure that six billion serves the purpose it was allocated for," he added, stressing that the ministry should have a proper internal mechanism of control because “it is a large ministry.”
Reflecting on his own tenure as the minister of defence, Angula acknowledged the difficulties faced at the time. “When I was there, we faced other problems of programming, especially around how to feed the soldiers,” he said.
"I started a company called August 26 Logistics. My thinking was, how can you just go to any company and say, ‘Bring food to the soldiers’? There must be a security system in place to vet who should provide food to the soldiers. That is why we started August 26 Logistics,” he explained.
He added further: "The ministry is supposed to have a proper internal mechanism of control. It’s a large ministry, you know. You have your textiles division, but you do not always know exactly what that person is doing. You have your machine fabric section, but again, you don’t know what he is doing. Then you have someone sourcing fuel. It’s a large system, and sometimes it’s difficult to control.”
Angula said that during his time, efforts were made to ensure trustworthiness in operations. “When I was there, we agreed with the general that he would give us people he believed were trustworthy. The system has to defend itself somehow."
He admitted: "But this problem isn’t only in defence; it also happened in fisheries, which looked like an innocent sector. Yet people took advantage of government objectives to enrich themselves.”
Lifestyle audits
Angula said that, during his time as prime minister, some individuals had already come under scrutiny.
“Perhaps these young people also saw loopholes. But I know some of those characters. They were already on the radar...People were saying: ‘Look at this person, look at the lifestyle.’ But we never carried out lifestyle audits."
He noted: “So, it's a general problem in the country."
He added that "we seem to have lost ethical direction. People are now driven by conspicuous consumption. This person is driving a Mercedes-Benz, so why shouldn’t I also drive a Mercedes-Benz? That kind of thinking."
The veteran politician also lamented: “We seem to lack a moral or ethical radar to guide people, that sense of, ‘This does not belong to me; it belongs to the people.’ Without that, it just takes one senior person doing something wrong for others to follow.”
Clean bill of health
Defence minister Frans Kapofi, speaking to Namibian Sun last Wednesday, stressed that the ministry is a state institution bound by national laws. He noted that, like other ministries, it is audited by the auditor-general and that the reports are published annually.
“We even announce it. In my statements, I have said that our auditing reports received a clean bill of health from the auditor-general. And those reports are there. So, when you talk about defence companies, that’s different. These two things are not the same.
“The ministry of defence is completely different. Those companies are doing other things, and they are also audited," Kapofi noted.
"Their financial statements are audited by private companies, and those auditors provide audited financials. That information is available. The difference lies in the laws that bind the ministry, which is a state entity, compared to companies. The ministry of defence is just like the ministry of education. What we do here is perform public duties, and we are subject, by law, to be audited. We cannot be an island in the ocean,” he said.
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His remarks follow persistent concerns that there are inadequate checks on how the ministry, which takes up a huge chunk of the national budget, uses money allocated to it. Observers argue that the ministry often cites national security to avoid full accountability.
"There must be oversight. Independent oversight. Because if you give the ministry six billion, that’s a lot of money,” Angula said in an interview on Network Television’s Evening Review last Tuesday.
"There must be guidance, some system in place, to ensure that six billion serves the purpose it was allocated for," he added, stressing that the ministry should have a proper internal mechanism of control because “it is a large ministry.”
Reflecting on his own tenure as the minister of defence, Angula acknowledged the difficulties faced at the time. “When I was there, we faced other problems of programming, especially around how to feed the soldiers,” he said.
"I started a company called August 26 Logistics. My thinking was, how can you just go to any company and say, ‘Bring food to the soldiers’? There must be a security system in place to vet who should provide food to the soldiers. That is why we started August 26 Logistics,” he explained.
He added further: "The ministry is supposed to have a proper internal mechanism of control. It’s a large ministry, you know. You have your textiles division, but you do not always know exactly what that person is doing. You have your machine fabric section, but again, you don’t know what he is doing. Then you have someone sourcing fuel. It’s a large system, and sometimes it’s difficult to control.”
Angula said that during his time, efforts were made to ensure trustworthiness in operations. “When I was there, we agreed with the general that he would give us people he believed were trustworthy. The system has to defend itself somehow."
He admitted: "But this problem isn’t only in defence; it also happened in fisheries, which looked like an innocent sector. Yet people took advantage of government objectives to enrich themselves.”
Lifestyle audits
Angula said that, during his time as prime minister, some individuals had already come under scrutiny.
“Perhaps these young people also saw loopholes. But I know some of those characters. They were already on the radar...People were saying: ‘Look at this person, look at the lifestyle.’ But we never carried out lifestyle audits."
He noted: “So, it's a general problem in the country."
He added that "we seem to have lost ethical direction. People are now driven by conspicuous consumption. This person is driving a Mercedes-Benz, so why shouldn’t I also drive a Mercedes-Benz? That kind of thinking."
The veteran politician also lamented: “We seem to lack a moral or ethical radar to guide people, that sense of, ‘This does not belong to me; it belongs to the people.’ Without that, it just takes one senior person doing something wrong for others to follow.”
Clean bill of health
Defence minister Frans Kapofi, speaking to Namibian Sun last Wednesday, stressed that the ministry is a state institution bound by national laws. He noted that, like other ministries, it is audited by the auditor-general and that the reports are published annually.
“We even announce it. In my statements, I have said that our auditing reports received a clean bill of health from the auditor-general. And those reports are there. So, when you talk about defence companies, that’s different. These two things are not the same.
“The ministry of defence is completely different. Those companies are doing other things, and they are also audited," Kapofi noted.
"Their financial statements are audited by private companies, and those auditors provide audited financials. That information is available. The difference lies in the laws that bind the ministry, which is a state entity, compared to companies. The ministry of defence is just like the ministry of education. What we do here is perform public duties, and we are subject, by law, to be audited. We cannot be an island in the ocean,” he said.
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