Govt Garage cleans up nicely

A GROUP of MPs yesterday inspected the head office of the Government Garage, only to find the filing system “in good order”.

Officials had apparently done their utmost to present a neat and tidy office system to improve the image of the institution, which the Office of the Auditor General has repeatedly described as “chaotic”. The State’s vehicle fleet has been reduced from 3 000 to 2 210, with 770 vehicles auctioned off under Operation Cleanup over the past nine months, bringing in N$9,1 million.The manual filing system, which includes a “personal file” for each Government vehicle and its repairs, invoices sent out and receipts for jobs completed, was “in quite a good shape”, said Johan de Waal, who led the delegation of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts.However, the bookkeeping at the institution still leaves much to be desired.Chief Accountant Raymond Simasiku was at pains to explain that they had ancient software to work with and relief would only come next month, but from outside Namibia.”The provincial government of the Western Cape in South Africa will co-operate with us and give us new, advanced software for free and help us to work with the new system,” Simasiku said.He could not produce any balance sheets or completed financial records for the past four financial years.Ndjaba noted that he had seconded accountants from his Ministry to sort out matters at the Garage.”We are trying our best to improve the reputation of the institution and it will be easier once all systems are updated, the software in place and our financial systems integrated with the Integrated Financial Management System of the Finance Ministry,” Malima said.The State’s vehicle fleet has been reduced from 3 000 to 2 210, with 770 vehicles auctioned off under Operation Cleanup over the past nine months, bringing in N$9,1 million.The manual filing system, which includes a “personal file” for each Government vehicle and its repairs, invoices sent out and receipts for jobs completed, was “in quite a good shape”, said Johan de Waal, who led the delegation of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts.However, the bookkeeping at the institution still leaves much to be desired.Chief Accountant Raymond Simasiku was at pains to explain that they had ancient software to work with and relief would only come next month, but from outside Namibia.”The provincial government of the Western Cape in South Africa will co-operate with us and give us new, advanced software for free and help us to work with the new system,” Simasiku said.He could not produce any balance sheets or completed financial records for the past four financial years.Ndjaba noted that he had seconded accountants from his Ministry to sort out matters at the Garage.”We are trying our best to improve the reputation of the institution and it will be easier once all systems are updated, the software in place and our financial systems integrated with the Integrated Financial Management System of the Finance Ministry,” Malima said.