Namibia’s budget transparency dips sharply

Namibia can improve its budget transparency by bettering its audit reporting time and making sure its accountability report is published within 12 months of the year under consideration.Graham Hopwood, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), said this in response to Namibia’s drop in the global rankings on budget transparency.Namibia’s score saw a huge dip in the latest Open Budget Survey (OBS), dropping from 51 points out of 100 in 2019 to 42 in 2021.According to the IPPR, a score of 61 is considered the minimum threshold to foster an informed public debate on budgets.The global average score in the OBS 2021 was 45.“The dip in Namibia’s transparency score comes mainly because government did not publish its accountability report on time in 2020, while the auditor-general’s report on government finances was published so late it could not be considered,” the IPPR said.The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 was a mitigating factor in the late publication of the accountability report,” the institute said.Global oversightThe global rankings on budget transparency and accountability are published by the International Budget Partnership.The survey is the world’s only comparative, independent and regular assessment of transparency, oversight and public participation on budgets in 120 countries. Namibia was ranked 72nd this year.According to the IPPR, the drop in Namibia’s score comes against a backdrop of progress in other parts of the world.Most countries were able to maintain, and in some cases, build on earlier gains in accountable spending practices despite the pandemic - thanks to increased digitalisation of information and the institutionalisation of accountability practices.Meanwhile, Namibia’s score on the budget oversight element of the survey increased from 46 in 2019 to 48 in 2021.“Namibia’s Parliament and the auditor-general’s office are considered to provide limited oversight during the budget process,” the IPPR noted.Lack of engagementNamibia continued to perform poorly on the public participation part of the survey – registering a score of zero – as there were no formal opportunities provided for meaningful public participation by government, Parliament or the auditor-general’s office.“The finance ministry did hold budget consultations with civil society and other sectors in 2021, but unfortunately, this was outside the time period for the OBS, which had a cut-off date of December 2020. As a result, the public participation score should increase in future surveys,” the institute said.Hopwood added that setting up formal opportunities for different sectors of society to give their input and comments during the budget cycle will ensure Namibia’s public participation score is boosted.“Namibia can also improve its ranking by submitting its budget proposal to Parliament at least two months before the start of the budget year and allowing a standing committee to scrutinise the proposal.”

Namibia’s budget transparency dips sharply

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-08

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Namibia’s budget transparency dips sharply

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-08

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