Metarere Muvangua is a senior auditor in the directorate of cash-based audits at the Auditor General’s office. He is responsible for the sound and effective functioning of government and ascertaining that the benefit of public funds reaches every corner of society.
Muvangua, who is in the seventh year of public service, maintains that auditing helps to secure accountability of the executive to the legislature and towards the public in general.
The legislature can exercise control over the executive and verify that public resources have been utilised responsibly, as well as for the purpose intended, and that funds raised through various sources like taxes reach the government fully.
“We prepare our audit reports in accordance with the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs). It is not our work to punish those who are found to have misused State resources, but our reports are there to provide reasonable assurance and accountability of the use of public funds, including our own actions and activities as well as the use of our national resources,” Muvangua asserted.
Muvangua’s mandate also includes compiling and submitting regulatory audit work plans, executing audits and drafting audit reports of government offices, ministries and agencies (OMAs), which are tabled in Parliament.
He said his job carries a lot of responsibility, and it is a critical role because auditors have to ensure that information about the financial resources of the State is communicated timely, effectively and economically to Parliament, taxpayers and the public at large.
He further said his job is investigative, and he does not leave any stone unturned until he gets to the root of the cause.
“This is exciting, and I enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes with it,” he said.
How it started
Born in a family of well-disciplined, humble and hardworking civil servants, Muvangua is considered by his colleague to be a self-motivated, dynamic, optimistic and artistic young public servant in the Namibian auditing fraternity.
He has an honours degree in business administration from the University of Namibia, which he complemented with a postgraduate diploma in education, majoring in accounting and business studies from the International University of Management.
He joined the public service in 2015, first as a customs and excise official in the Directorate of Customs and Excise, which has since been transformed into the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA).
In 2018, he resigned from his post to explore new opportunities, where he joined the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA).
“I resigned and grabbed an opportunity to serve at the NQA as a career advice administrator responsible for advising students on career pathways and making sure scholars enrol at accredited institutions of higher learning,” Muvangua added.
Within a year in his new role, he was awarded the NQA Employee Excellence of the year and NQA Customer Service Excellence of the year awards.
According to Muvangua, NQA recognition made him re-discover that his true passion lay in the finance sector and accounting; thereafter, he started looking for opportunities to go back to his original field of expertise.
In 2020, he returned to the public service as a trainee auditor in the office of the Auditor General and later as a senior auditor after completing the internal functional training courses and certifications.
Muvangua said what he likes about working for the government is that there are many opportunities ranging from diversity in terms of mandates of the different OMAs, diverse working environments, job security and numerous career programmes as well as opportunities for growth within the government.
His biggest accomplishment as a public servant is getting appreciation shout-outs from members of the public for the work that the entity he works for is doing.
A show of gratitude for what public servants do to make sure the public is well informed about the usage of state resources would not come amiss. He finds it fulfilling that there are those members of the community who understand the complexity of auditors’ work.
Future plans
Muvangua said he wants to play his part as a young professional, making a positive impact in the auditing profession and making a difference in society.
He also wants to become the best version of himself in his professional and personal life, and he is determined to serve in the public sector for as long as he can, provided that he can make a meaningful contribution.
He is planning to pursue further professional qualifications in the fields of risk management, money laundering and forensic auditing.