WINDHOEK – The Auditor-General has expressed concern that unauthorised expenditure has been recurring at the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation for the past four financial years.
This information is contained in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation annual report for 2018, as audited by the Auditor-General.
These are three sub-divisions which exceeded with an amount of N$539 124.38 during the 2014/15 financial year.
The other is the N$10 430.55 which was spent unauthorised in two sub-divisions during 2015/16 and N$1.26 million was authorised in seven sub-divisions during 2016/17 financial year.
The other unauthorised expenditure includes N$3.05 million in five sub-divisions during the 2017/18 financial year.
Auditor General Junias
Kandjeke recommended that the accounting officer should put in place measures to avoid unauthorised expenditure.
Kandjeke also found that one main division exceeded with an amount of N$1.37 million. This amount he says was unauthorised in terms of Section 27 (a) (ii) of the State Finance Act, 1991.
Although Treasury approvals were obtained to utilise certain expected savings for the defrayal of excess expenditure through virements during the year, five sub-divisions exceeded with a total amount of N$3.05 million, which is unauthorised in terms of Section 6 of the State Finance Act.
“It is recommended that the accounting officer should closely monitor and review the financial position of the ministry on a continuous basis to enable better financial control, and take appropriate action timeously to avoid unauthorised expenditure,” Kandjeke suggested.
The ministry is in the process of implementing the enterprise risk management charter, which will form part of the 2019/20 annual plan. Currently, the international relations ministry has a draft enterprise risk management charter in place.
Kandjeke drew attention that management has not come up with a documented risk management policy to provide information and guidance on risk management.
Therefore, Kandjeke recommended that the accounting officer in the ministry should develop and implement a risk management policy.
Risk management is a process of identifying, assessing, managing and controlling risks within an organisation and it is aimed at providing guidance regarding the management of risk to support the achievement of the ministry’s objectives, protect staff and the ministry’s assets.
Equally, Kandjeke noted that management has not come up with an approved disaster recovery plan to provide information and guidance in the event of a disaster.
The disaster recovery plan is an integral part of the overall risk management of the ministry.
“Since all of the risks cannot be eliminated, the management should implement a disaster recovery plan to prepare for potentially disruptive events. In the event of a disaster, the continued operations of the ministry depend on the ability to replicate its IT systems and data,” he stated.
Further, he said the disaster recovery plan stipulates how the ministry will prepare for a disaster, what the ministry’s response will be, and what steps it will take to ensure the operations can be immediately restored.
He recommended that the accounting officer develop and implement a disaster recovery plan.
In her response, International Relations and Cooperation Executive Director Selma Ashipala-Musavyi indicated that the ministry is in the process of setting up the disaster recovery plan.
She explained to date, the ministry embarked on the process of acquiring a disaster recovery site.
The ministry envisaged that the process will be completed this financial year.