By: Kelvin Chiringa
This Tuesday, the defence ministry will be subjected to critical scrutiny and questioning by the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts at the back of a questionable audit.
Dudu Murorua confirmed this last week after hosting a Namibia Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) delegation.
The appointment with the defence team came at the back of a media report that the military company, August 24 Textile and Garment Factory, transferred some N$40 million to Dubai, the United States, Malaysia and Brazil to buy pillows, uniforms other goods for soldiers.
Speaking to The Villager, Murorua said, “The main reason why we are going to have a public hearing with the ministry of defence is because of a disclaimer audit opinion”.
The committee will be probing the non-submission of critical documentation to the Auditor General as per the provisions of the law.
“I cannot state that they will be easy or difficult, but as far as the public accounts committee is concerned, we are acting within the framework of the law and as per the rules laid down.
“The Auditor-General is also acting as per the law because he has to audit all institutions that are receiving money from the government for the interest of the Republic of Namibia. So, for them to be difficult or not to be difficult is not something that I would at this point speculate,” he said.
During the time of defence minister Peter Vilho, the ministry knocked horns with auditor-general Junius Kandjeke over the submission or auditing of information he considered to be of potential national security importance.
Vilho even went to the extent of accusing Kandjeke’s office of attempting to spy “on the performance of some of the Namibian Defence Force’s military equipment under the guise of accountability and transparency”.
“I refused to provide the additional information requested because of my training. This amounted to daylight espionage. We tried to explain to our colleagues [auditors] that putting such information in the public domain is a threat to national security. Unfortunately, we won’t compromise on that. We would rather have an adverse opinion than release such information,” he is on record stating.
But Murorua said they do not intend to request any information about Namibia’s defence capabilities.
“I believe that the public hearing will have a positive outcome. I believe that there was a misunderstanding between the previous minister and the Auditor General’s office because, as per the rules, the AG will not go there to test the capability of the defence’s armaments.
“They (should) verify whether the spending done has been made correctly, and the items that are indicated on the documents are the items that are in their stores. That is the only thing. Not to test the capability of the items that are there,” he said.
Meanwhile, the defence ministry has hogged the limelight as one of the most unaccountable portfolios in government despite cashing in one of the largest chunks of the national budget.
The latest report from the AG has it that ghost attaches have riddled the ministry representatives of Namibia in foreign countries.
