Transport ministry disputes N$400m overspending

According to a report on the Department of Transport within the ministry, the auditor general, Junias Kandjeke, found that actual expenditure for seven capital projects exceeded the approved appropriation for the year under review with an amount of N$434 million. This was revealed in a report for the 2019/20 financial year. “There was no overspending at the Department of Transport,” executive director of works and transport Esther Kaapanda said yesterday. “The wrong reflection of overspending in the capital budget was caused by internal virementation arrangements, which were not posted in the general ledger at the time,” she said. However, when Kandjeke asked Kaapanda for an explanation as accounting officer, she agreed with the findings. “The accounting officer indicated that the ministry agrees with the finding, and the excess expenditure is mainly due to the internal virement,” the report reads. Overspending by any office, ministry and agency is in contravention of Section 6 of the State Finance Act. According to the report, the largest overspending was recorded in the railway networking upgrading project where the department's budget was N$112 million, but ended up with expenditure of N$226 million. This led to an over-expenditure of around N$114 million. The ministry spent N$121 million on the construction of a gravel road between Isizo, Sifuha, Malindi and Luhonono. The budget for this project was N$57 million, which led to overspending of N$64 million. Similarly, the department initially budgeted N$77,7 million for the upgrading of the Gobabis-Aminuis-Aranos road, which ended up costing N$137,8 million – an overspending of N$60 million. The budget of phase one of the newly rehabilitated road between Windhoek and Okahandja was N$283 million, but later cost N$304 million – an overspending of N$20,9 million. The report said the budget for the Swakopmund-Walvis Bay road upgrade was N$246 million but the department overspent with N$97,5 million. This led to the department paying N$352 million for the upgrade. The department also overspent with N$77 million in the completion of the Katana-Endola-Onunho road, which ended up costing N$147 million. The department initially budgeted about N$70 million for the project. Lastly, the ministry budgeted N$1 million for Empic software meant for regulatory management, but overspent with N$910 344.MISSED TARGETS The audit found the Department of Transport has been missing its quarterly targets. One of these missed targets included the full upgrading of the country's railways. Kaapanda told the auditor general this was due to a limited budget, and the department concentrated more on maintenance and partial upgrading. On another project, Kandjeke found the department spent an amount of N$1,5 billion in the 2019/20 financial year on the construction of 10 roads. Kandjeke recommended that all key activities which consume public funds are planned and reviewed as required by the Namibian Public Service Performance Management Framework.“The audit revealed an unsatisfactory outcome on consistency criteria on the selected key performance indicators. “In addition, the audit found that not all key activities of the department are planned and reviewed. The audit further revealed that the Department of Transport did not meet targets for some key performance indicators,” the report reads.

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