More than N$110 mln paid out in income grant

Jo-Maré Duddy – Government today paid about N$110.23 million in its first batch of payments to beneficiaries of the Emergency Income Grant (EIG).
A total of 146 974 successful recipients received their once-off grant of N$750, the chief public relations officer at the ministry of finance, Tonateni Shidhudhu, told Market Watch.
“The payment process was a little bit delayed due to strict verification process to ensure that the grant is given to the rightful applicants while maintaining the credibility of the process,” Shidhudhu said.
Finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi on Friday launched the EIG as part of government’s economic stimulus and relief package. In total N$562 million was set aside for an estimated 739 000 Namibians of 18 to 59 years in the informal sector who lost their jobs or income due to the impact of Covid-19.
Shidhudhu said a total of 327 528 applications were received since the SMS line became operational on Friday.
Of these, 180 554 were rejected for various reasons.
“During the verification process, a number of suspicious fraudulent applications were detected.
“This include multiple entries of ID numbers, applications for the deceased persons and those appearing on the data base of the Social Security Commission, NSFAF, Veteran Affairs, as well as applicants who are not within the age rage as set by the ministry,” he said.
A total of 242 applications were rejected on the basis of ID numbers belonging to the deceased persons and 57 applications were rejected as the ID numbers were found in the record of veteran grants, Shidhudhu said.
“The ministry was also able to block some applications after cases of stolen ID linked to such applications were reported to the ministry. Furthermore, 31 846 applications were rejected after they were found in tax payers records.”
Shidhudhu reminded the public that criminal charges will be pressed against those who are found to have falsely claimed benefits under this scheme and recovery procedures for false claims will also be instituted.
“We therefore discourage people to refrain from such fraudulent activities. In the same vein, those who happen to miss their ID cards and suspect frauds to phone the MTC Call Centre for verification,” he said.
He furthermore emphasised that the EIG is a once-off payment which is only meant for the first three weeks of the lockdown.
“With the extension of the lockdown period, government will re-valuate the situation and redirect support to the critical affected areas depending on the availability of funds,” Shidhudhu said.