N$25.6 million unauthorised expenditure recorded at works department

WINDHOEK, 16 OCT  – The Department of Works and Transport under the Ministry of Works and Transport’s total budget vote was exceeded with an amount of N$25.6 million during the 2016/17 financial year, which is in contravention of the State Finance Act.
The details are contained in an audit report submitted to the National Assembly by Finance Minister, Calle Schlettwein recently.
In addition, four main divisions were further exceeded with an amount of N$29 862 338.48, which is also unauthorised in terms of the Act.
“Although Treasury approval was obtained to utilise certain expected savings for the defrayal of expenditure through virements during the year, twenty seven (27) subdivisions were exceeded with a total amount of N$35 648 466.64 which is unauthorised in terms of Section 6 (a)(iii) of the Act,” Auditor General, Junias Kandjeke states in the report.
Moreover, during the period in question, the total unauthorised expenditure for the vote, main divisions and subdivisions exceeded the materiality level of N$10.5 million.
“It is recommended that the Accounting Officer (Permanent Secretary) should closely monitor and review the financial position of the department on a continuous basis and take appropriate action timeously to avoid unauthorised expenditure,” Kandjeke recommended.
Another key finding by the auditor is that the Permanent Secretary (PS) did not carry out bank reconciliations of the department’s 16 bank accounts.
“(This) is contrary to Treasury Instruction FB 0404, which might lead to fraudulent transactions not being detected timely or at all.”
As a consequence, Kandjeke recommended that the PS should in the future ensure that monthly reconciliations for each bank account is carried out as required by Treasury Instruction.
“Furthermore, the Accounting Officer should also explain why the bank account for the Training of SME Contractors in Namibia was not reported to the Auditor General,” Kandjeke noted.
During the period under review, the AG also discovered an unexplained amount of N$454 212.54, which was purportedly spent on travel and subsistence allowance (S&T).
This is despite the fact that the S&T advance suspense account reflects an amount of N$901 804.05 which is different from N$447 591.51 in the debit balance list, hence the unexplained difference.
“It is expected that the Accounting Officer should explain the difference and in future adhere to Treasury Instruction FD 0702,” he recommended.
(NAMPA)