By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
WINDHOEK– The Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Doreen Sioka yesterday said the ministry, including the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW) are experiencing considerable difficulties in accessing information on transactions in individuals’ bank accounts of beneficiaries of social grants in their quest to verify under- payments, over-payments and even non-payments.
She was speaking during a one-day consultative meeting in respect of the idea of ministry controlled smart card accounts, which was tabled in Cabinet recently. Cabinet postponed discussion on the matter and advised the two ministries to conduct a thorough study on it and also to consult regional governors, traditional authorities and Swapo Party leaders. The meeting was attended by regional governors and other senior government officials. “Since the different accounts be it bank or post office belong to private individuals the information about these accounts are private in nature, and the banks cannot disclose such information. In the instances that it was disclosed, the information was obtained with great difficulty,” explained Sioka. She further said the labour ministry experiences great difficulties in establishing the repeated withdrawals and deposits to used accounts in foreign countries, as a result rendering the enforcement of the provisions of the relevant Act impossible. The Act states: “No person that stays for a period exceeding six months in the country other than a Namibian should be paid a basic state grant (sic).”
“In some instances where a beneficiary’s death is not reported, the payment of grants continues for a period of six months until the review process is undertaken at the offices,” she said. Sioka further said if undetected the payments could continue until the audit review process takes place, which could take a year or two depending on the availability of funds. “This state of affairs has an adverse influence on the processing and work flow at the office to the extent that approvals are delayed and payments are not made within the prescribed time frame reflecting negatively on the performance of the ministry,” the minister said. According to Sioka the two ministries engaged Nampost to develop separate smart card accounts for government that are linked to a designated pool fund. She further explained that the funds will be for both ministries. “Each ministry would on a monthly basis deposit the monthly aggregate of grant amounts into the designated pool fund,” she said at the briefing yesterday. Nampost would establish a specially linked smart card account with marked codes to the pool fund. “Each beneficiary would be registered and through this process, his or her details be authenticated to such a smart card account,” she further explained.