Lahja Nashuuta
Gerson Kashokora is a committed civil servant whose interest and passion lie in the financial services sector. He has devoted his career to holding government entities accountable and ensuring that public funds are spent for the intended purpose.
Currently serving as a government auditor under the cash-based directorate in the Office of the Auditor General, he is responsible for performing audits on financial accounts for government ministries and agencies to ensure validity, and that their financial records are correct and in line with the law.
“As an auditor, my primary responsibility is to carry out annual audits for ministries. This includes carrying out inspection audits. It’s more like a spot-check of extended arms of the ministries e.g. offices of ministries other than head office just to ensure controls implemented at head office are cross-cutting to the extended offices. More recently, my directorate was also given the responsibility for auditing all village councils in the country per the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS),” he revealed.
Humble beginning
Hailing from Kaisosi, Rundu in the Kavango East region, Kashokora (27) has 15 siblings. He attended high school at the renowned St. Boniface College, and he is an alumnus of both University of Namibia and Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust).
He recently completed a post graduate diploma in accounting (CTA).
He joined the public service in April 2021, shortly after obtaining his Advanced Diploma in Theory of Accounting at Nust. Before joining the public service, Kashokora worked for the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (Bipa).
With knowledge gained from the universities, he strongly believes his expertise, particularly in the field of auditing, is sufficient to hold him in good stead in the Office of the Auditor General.
“I have the capability to give a fair reflection/assessment of operations of a particular ministry within the set reporting frameworks adopted by the ministry while upholding strong ethics in my work,” Kashokora said.
He further stated: “At office level, I sit on the Customer Service Charter Implementation committee, and we are directly championing the office’s promises to all our stakeholders, and see to it that they are being implemented as promised in the charter. All this is being done to promote efficiency and effectiveness in public service.”
Asked why he opted to work for public service, Kashokora maintained that although the government offers job security and ample chances for personal development, for him working for the government is a national calling.
“I can say it was a national calling to serve my country directly and the government is an equal opportunity employer. The fun fact is after I discovered there is an Office of the Auditor-General in 2019, I always dreamt of joining the office. Not only because it contributes to accountability of public use of resources, but it is aligned well with my career goals of becoming a qualified accountant,” he said.
Challenges
Although Kashokora cherishes every moment he has spent on the job, it is not without challenges.
His most challenging yet exciting thing about his work is having to deal with multiple projects with competing priorities. “As an auditor, you get to work on four clients for example, and other ad hoc assignments. This is good because you get to build good integration thinking skills and learn a lot from people with different ideas,” he said.
He says what is always fulfilling is the fact that their reports are tabled in parliament to seek public resource accountability and transparency.
“With this I mean, after being tabled in parliament these reports are then published on our website, www.oag.gov.na for the public to see how their loved ministries have utilised the allocated budget for the fiscal year. This promotes transparency and accountability of taxpayers’ money. So, in the end, as an employee, you feel satisfied that you have contributed to some national objectives outlined in the HPP 2 and NDP 5 for example,” Kashokora narrated.
Work-related accomplishments
“Without a doubt, it is the moment the Office of the Auditor-General scooped the best customer service charter champions’ award. The office scored an impressive 97%, and I was part of the team that made that possible. I am proud of this moment because as the office responsible for public resource audits, particularly on service delivery, we are able to lead by example by showing why customer service in public service is important”.
Misconceptions
Asked about the perception that all civil servants are lazy and largely ineffective, Kashokora had this to say: “I think the best way to answer this is ‘A little knowledge is dangerous’ But as public servants, we always prioritise public interest, that’s why the Auditor-General exists, for example, to see to it that there’s no room for unproductivity, through our performance audits”.
Staying in public service
Kashokora maintained that it is difficult for him since he is still an infant. “Well, currently the work and objectives of my employer are aligned to my career goals, and I am happy to be part of an organisation that’s adding value to national objectives.”
He wishes to see the Office of the Auditor-General become a fully registered training office. “I wish to see the Audit Bill passed into an Act. The Act will revolutionise the accounting world in Namibia,” Kashokora said. -lnashuuta@gmail.com