OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR – GENERAL REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA 7 th -10 th May 2012, Hilton Hotel, Windhoek, Namibia THE ROLE OF PERFORMANCE AUDITING AND ITS IMPACT ON GOOD GOVERNANCE Presenter: Alan Hansen

Poor Utilization of Government Quarters A Follow-Up Audit A NAMIBIAN CASE STUDY

SESSION OVERVIEW Background Problem Methods Major findings Reaction from the public Other challenges The way forward

BACKGROUND Initial report was completed and tabled in 2001 PAC conducted fieldwork and presented their report to Parliament in 2006 Follow-Up Audit done during 2010/2011, taking into consideration the initial recommendations from OAG and recommendations from the PAC Follow-Up Report tabled in March/April 2012

BACKGROUND(Cont.) After independence the Government continued with the housing policy that was used by the interim Government i.e. to provide accommodation for its civil servants Housing was not a condition of service anymore, but was seen as a privilege and the housing officer also managed a waiting list system, because most civil servants were now Namibian citizens without houses

BACKGROUND(Cont.) Housing is administered and controlled by the Department of Works for the whole Government of Namibia It was a temporary arrangement to help civil servants who are without accommodation The intention was that civil servants should use the housing scheme as a long-term solution to the need for housing

Problem Poor Utilization of Government Quarters: No regular inspections, no inspectors Housing subdivision has no legal mandate to evict illegal occupants or occupants operating illegal activities Lease agreements not adhered to Maintenance is not regularly done

METHODS Mainly interviews Housing staff, occupants & housing committee members Document review Rules for occupation Lease agreements List of occupants Head Office vs. Regions Housing Files Observations of the quarters Use the list of occupants to observe the houses

MAJOR FINDINGS 1. Lease agreements are not signed and distributed to the tenants when they are allocated with a quarter 2. The allocation policy is not being enforced 3. Inspections of government quarters are not done on a regular basis 4. Records of the government quarters are not updated on a regular basis and the fixed asset register does not include all the property in the regions 5. The new monthly tariffs for rent have been implemented, but not all the occupants of government quarters pay rent

MAJOR FINDINGS(Cont.) 6. The Department of Works did not liaise with the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney-General in order to obtain the legal power to evict illegal tenants 7. The follow-up audit of the Office of the Auditor-General has been done, but very few of the recommendations from the initial report and the report produced by the Public Accounts Committee have been implemented 8. There are a lot of unresolved issues with the ownership and management of government quarters that exists across the regions

REACTION FROM THE PUBLIC During the audit, there was a lot of interest from civil servants – those benefiting and those that are in need However, the general public’s views have not really been obtained As with most reports, an article appeared in the newspaper It affects a lot of people, with income low and accommodation scare, very topical issue Overstaying in government quarters, families believe they own the property

OTHER CHALLENGES Verifying the documents, contradicting information Meeting with the occupants – work hours, not available Unavailability of documents/proof Scanning through the files were time-consuming Areas to visit are very extensive Took longer than projected or planned for

THE WAY FORWARD Follow-up is the only way that the work of the auditor and its impact can be assessed Many things have remained the same since the initial reports(OAG & PAC) PAC and OAG must monitor and request feedback on remedial action taken by the Ministry In order to improve governance, whoever is accountable should be held accountable Continue to provide independent assurance and make recommendations to improve governance of our O/M/As

THANK YOU Questions?