ECN sets record straight
According to the electoral body, only the Republican Party and the Workers Revolutionary Party have failed to submit audited statements.
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) this week issued a correction on a previous statement that the All People's Party (APP) and the United People's Movement (UPM) had not consistently provided audited financial statements to the ECN as required by the law.
The press statement noted records of financial statements submitted by various political parties that were made available to finance minister Calle Schlettwein recently, and quoted by him in parliament, did not include submissions by the APP for the 2016/17 financial year and for the 2015/16 financial years by the UPM.
“The ECN would like to state that the records shared, unfortunately, had erroneously omitted to include submissions made by the All People's Party (APP) for the 2016/17 financial year and for the United People's Movement (UPM) for the 2015/16 financial years.”
Both APP and UPM submitted financial records, as required by the Electoral Act, for those years.
The amended record of financial statements issued yesterday by the ECN show that the Republican Party (RP) and the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) are the only two parties that did not submit audited statements to the ECN for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 financial years, as required by the Electoral Act of 2014.
Schlettwein, who was providing feedback in parliament, called on political parties to remain accountable to the public regarding the public funding they received.
The ECN yesterday also noted that parties have a legal duty to be accountable to the public on the management and utilisation of taxpayers' money they received as funding from the national budget.
While SWANU of Namibia submitted audited financial statements for 2014/15 and the 2015/16 financial years, they failed to submit their 2016/17 records, the amended ECN data shows.
Another party, the United Democratic Front of Namibia (UDF), failed to submit audited reports for the 2015/16 financial year, but did submit reports for both the 2014/15 and 2016/17 financial years, the new ECN records show.
The ECN further clarified that the Electoral Act requires that all registered political parties as well as parties represented in parliament account for funds by complying with two sections of the Act, which stipulate specific timelines for the submission of financial statements to the ECN.
The ECN clarified that the Act was promulgated in October 2014 and as such political parties are not “obligated to provide to the ECN statements for the 2014/15 year”, although three parties did, including SWANU, Swapo and the UDF.
The ECN yesterday thanked those parties that handed over financial statements since 2014 and said they look forward to receiving all audited statements for the 2017/18 years.
JANA-MARI SMITH
The press statement noted records of financial statements submitted by various political parties that were made available to finance minister Calle Schlettwein recently, and quoted by him in parliament, did not include submissions by the APP for the 2016/17 financial year and for the 2015/16 financial years by the UPM.
“The ECN would like to state that the records shared, unfortunately, had erroneously omitted to include submissions made by the All People's Party (APP) for the 2016/17 financial year and for the United People's Movement (UPM) for the 2015/16 financial years.”
Both APP and UPM submitted financial records, as required by the Electoral Act, for those years.
The amended record of financial statements issued yesterday by the ECN show that the Republican Party (RP) and the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) are the only two parties that did not submit audited statements to the ECN for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 financial years, as required by the Electoral Act of 2014.
Schlettwein, who was providing feedback in parliament, called on political parties to remain accountable to the public regarding the public funding they received.
The ECN yesterday also noted that parties have a legal duty to be accountable to the public on the management and utilisation of taxpayers' money they received as funding from the national budget.
While SWANU of Namibia submitted audited financial statements for 2014/15 and the 2015/16 financial years, they failed to submit their 2016/17 records, the amended ECN data shows.
Another party, the United Democratic Front of Namibia (UDF), failed to submit audited reports for the 2015/16 financial year, but did submit reports for both the 2014/15 and 2016/17 financial years, the new ECN records show.
The ECN further clarified that the Electoral Act requires that all registered political parties as well as parties represented in parliament account for funds by complying with two sections of the Act, which stipulate specific timelines for the submission of financial statements to the ECN.
The ECN clarified that the Act was promulgated in October 2014 and as such political parties are not “obligated to provide to the ECN statements for the 2014/15 year”, although three parties did, including SWANU, Swapo and the UDF.
The ECN yesterday thanked those parties that handed over financial statements since 2014 and said they look forward to receiving all audited statements for the 2017/18 years.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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