Almost half of the N$62.7 million Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) budget has been earmarked for the investigation of 20 ongoing high-profile cases that will be prioritised by the anti-graft agency this financial year.
This is contained in the motivation of the ACC’s budgetary allocation for 2021/22, motivated by National Assembly Speaker Peter Katjavivi on Tuesday.
Katjavivi, while motivating the commission’s budget, told lawmakers that of the N$62.7 million allocated to the ACC, N$25.2 million is earmarked for the investigation division.
Of that amount, Katjavivi said N$21.3 million will cover remuneration and related expenditure for investigating officers, while N$2.2 million is earmarked for outsourced expertise for complex investigations that require specialised skills.
“Aside from [the] lengthy and complex fishing sector matter, commonly referred to as Fishrot, which has since been submitted to the prosecutor general for a decision, there are 20 other ongoing high-profile investigations that have been prioritised for this financial year and for which specialised skills would be sought,” Katjavivi said.
“It is crucial that the high-profile cases are prioritised, as they have a potential to undermine the country’s commercial and financial integrity and interest, cause huge potential financial losses to the country, and the public has an interest in the speedy resolution of these cases.”
Furthermore, Katjavivi said N$1.5 million will be spent on licenses for investigation case management software and forensic applications.
For corruption prevention initiatives, he said N$12.1 million is earmarked, and of that amount, N$11.8 million is set aside for remuneration and related expenditure.
He said the commission’s Public Education and Corruption Prevention Directorate will embark upon the development of the second National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan 2021-2025.
He further said the ACC will further develop methodologies to examine systems and procedures of institutions to eliminate corruption vulnerabilities within institutions.
Furthermore, Katjavivi said an extensive public awareness on what constitutes corruption as well as training on ethics will be conducted.
He said N$24.6 million is allocated to the office of the director general and the support and coordinating functions, of which N$16 million is estimated for remuneration and related expenditure, while N$3.6 million will go towards utilities (municipal, telecommunication) of the four ACC offices in Windhoek, Swakopmund, Otjiwarongo and Oshakati.
Katjavivi said the rental of offices in three centres will cost an estimated N$1.7 million, while security and risk management operations will take up N$777 000.
“The budget of the ACC has been shrinking due to the expansion of the organisation, the annual salary notch increments and inflationary pressures on utilities, goods and other services,” Katjavivi said.
He said remuneration and related expenditure for Vote 30 takes up 79.7% of the allocated amount, with 20% allocated for goods and other services.
The remainder, 0.3%, is earmarked for office IT equipment and international obligations in the form of membership fees.