National Assembly defaulting on N$21m car maintenance debt

Auditor-General Junias Kandjeke says the National Assembly is failing to pay its government garage debt for maintenance work done on vehicles allocated to it. The debt now stands at N$21.1 million.In his latest audit report on the financial affairs of the National Assembly, he also exposed the brazen overspending of taxpayer money without the requisite approvals. Overspending for the 2021/2022 financial year stood at N$6 million.Kandjeke said he could not provide reasonable assurance to the public and members of parliament about the key performance activities of the National Assembly. In light of this, a follow-up audit will be conducted during the 2022/2023 financial year to ensure the performance assessment is operational.In addition, while treasury has authorised the use of some savings to pay for some expenses, it was found that 15 operational subdivisions exceeded these provisions by a total of N$4.1 million."It is recommended that the accounting officer should put measures in place to avoid overspending and should ensure that planned activities are implemented within the approved budget. “Furthermore, if specific activities are expected to exceed the budgeted funds due to unforeseen circumstances, funds should be viremented from where savings are expected," he said.No disaster planMeanwhile, the auditor-general flagged that the National Assembly’s executive director Lydia Kandetu failed to account for revenue collected under its miscellaneous revenue category, and has reported that it does not have an office. It also does not collect revenue except for photocopies, which hardly amount to N$100. The audit also discovered that the National Assembly’s management failed to develop a disaster plan to guide the office should a disaster strike. Management has therefore been tasked to set up an overall risk management plan to prepare for potentially disruptive events."This process is extremely important as it provides detailed strategies on how the National Assembly will continue after severe interruptions and disasters. In the event of a disaster, the continued operations of the National Assembly depends on the ability to replicate its systems and data."It was further found that the National Assembly failed to reconcile its suspense accounts during the 2020/2021 financial years, and a team was appointed to carry out these duties with the assistance of treasury. This account credit balance stood at N$398 313, pointing to misallocation. “Kandetu explained that it was a challenging reconciliation process because the age balance on receipts suspense, whereby most of the source documents are not traceable. However, the reconciliation conducted has reduced the balance compared to the other years".

National Assembly defaulting on N$21m car maintenance debt

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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National Assembly defaulting on N$21m car maintenance debt

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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