Kunene’s retired Govt ‘squatters’: Housing chaos and missing millions

Six retired officials in the Kunene region have allegedly overstayed their welcome in government housing, while auditors have flagged unverified payments, housing debt and underspending by the works department.

An asset inspection audit was conducted in the Kunene region for the period under review.

Auditor general Junias Kandjeke says a rule on housing for government officials stipulates that the lease of official housing may be cancelled when the occupant retires from the public service and that the staff member may apply for an extension of one month after retirement, whereby they will be required to pay rent of N$1 500.

“The audit found that six tenants are still occupying official quarters for more than the extension period of one month, while they have retired from the public service. However, the audit team could not verify the extension letters, proof of rental paid and reasons provided for prolonged stay after retirement,” he says.

Kandjeke says the accounting officer should ensure staff members who have retired from the public service vacate official quarters/accommodation as required by the rules for occupation of the official accommodation.

This is contained in the auditor general’s report on the accounts of the department of works in the Ministry of Works and Transport for the financial year ended 31 March 2024.

Questions sent to the ministry were not answered by the time of going to print.

The report further says most tenants were awaiting a Cabinet directive to buy non-assigned houses.

The Khorixas office was, therefore, advised to let sitting tenants continue to occupy the houses until they received offers to buy them.

Meanwhile, Kandjeke says the total budget for the department of works was underspent with an amount of N$94.8 million (15.04%).

This money, he says, could have been used for other projects in the country.

Kandjeke recommends that the accounting officer should put measures in place to avoid under-expenditure and should ensure all planned programmes are implemented.

He says principal debt amounting to N$201 763 applied to nine staff members with a term of redemption exceeding 12 months.

According to Kandjeke, treasury approvals for redemptions exceeding the 12-month period were not provided for audit purposes.

As a result, it is recommended that the treasury approvals are obtained and submitted for audit purposes.

The auditor could further not verify the reported information about two vehicles that were repaired at a cost of N$70 875 during the financial year under review, as proof of payment and expenditure vouchers were not provided for audit purposes.