Parliament members call for special committee to investigate defence ministry spending

Some members of parliament have called for the creation of a specific select committee to look into the books of the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, following its stance on security risks.

This suggestion was made by Popular Democratic Movement member of parliament Maximalliant Katjimune in response to defence minister Frans Kapofi, who on Wednesday made an admission of overspending funds allocated to the ministry during the parliament session.

Katjimune states he is not surprised, noting that while he understands the defence ministry’s importance for national security, its financial records have consistently been found lacking over the years.

“There must be a specific select committee that will be appointed by parliament to look into the operation of that particular ministry so that we get to the bottom of what exactly is going on,” he says.

Public policy analyst Marius Kudumo says he does not think there was any hidden agenda for people to now create speculative opinions.

“The minister was responding to an audit finding of a specific auditing period and not generally to the financial administration of the ministry,” he says.

He says Kapofi is one of the ministers who has respected Article 42 of the Namibian Constitution, of accountability to both the president and parliament.

He admitted to the ministry’s overspending flagged by the public accounts committee audit report of 2019.

Kapofi assured that the ministry will do better going forward in regards to its accounting books.

He was responding to the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts’ report in the National Assembly.

Chairperson of the public accounts committee, Dudu Murorua, raised concerns of overspending by the defence ministry, describing it as “worrisome”.

In the report, Murorua recommends that the ministry account for every penny spent and allow auditors to do their job, and not deny them access to invoices to verify bought military equipment.

“I want to assure this house that since I took over the ministry, we have had four unqualified audit reports, and yes, I admit, we may have overspent, but we will continue to make sure we address that,” Kapofi said.

He added that the ministry respects the law and will continue to adhere to all auditing rules.

Kapofi further said putting accounting books in order takes time but strides have already been made.

Not long ago, the ministry was criticised for denying access to its military equipment, citing security risks.

Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters deputy leader Kalimbo Iipumbu argues that such excuses are embarrassing and demands that the ministry account for each dollar spent.

Murorua urged the ministry to only spend what it gets, and to not overspend public funds.