Civil servants too busy with porn

THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has discovered nothing but pornography on computers seized from some Government departments while conducting investigations.

Speaking at the new year staff meeting of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in Windhoek last Monday, ACC director Paulus Noa said some public servants are entirely unproductive and that even when they are in their offices they are not busy with work.Noa has told The Namibian that the ACC has conducted investigations at Government departments where it seized desktop computers only to find pornographic pictures and no work-related documents saved on them.Noa said when he made the statement at the OPM it was in the context of some public servants arriving at work late and leaving early – effectively stealing Government money when they are paid a full salary at the end of the month.’Even those who are in their offices are unproductive because they are not doing their work, the fact that we have found such things on their computers is an indication that some public servants are using their work computers to play around,’ Noa said.Noa described this as corruption, as he believes that public servants who are guilty of this are stealing from the Namibian taxpayer.’This is what is happening with some public servants, we have not checked all computers at all Government offices, so it is not something all public servants are guilty of,’ the ACC director said.Noa said misuse of Government assets, such as using computers to download pornography, amounts to corruption because the equipment is supposed to be used to render a service to the Namibian public.Noa would not say which Government departments the computers containing the pornography were from.When speaking at the OPM, Noa said there also appears to be an ‘apparent scratching of each other’s backs in the public service,’ as some supervisors do not want to be seen as taking action against their subordinates.Noa urged public servants to ‘make sure that we keep to what we have been put in positions for,’ and he warned that 2012 would be an ‘unusual’ year where ‘we will go the extra mile to ensure that those who are not doing their jobs are forced to resign their posts’.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.

The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.