The ministry of home affairs is attempting to recuperate N$2.3 million in duplicate payments to suppliers who rendered services to the government.

This is entailed in the auditor general's report of the department of home affairs in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security for the financial year ended 31 March 2021, which was presented to parliament last week. According to auditor general (AG) Junias Kandjeke, the department made duplicate payments to three suppliers from the sample audited, amounting to N$2.3 million.

However, the accounting officer indicated that the amount would be collected from the respective suppliers. "The accounting officer should put controls in place to ensure that double payments will not happen again in the future, and should recover the amount and provide proof for audit purposes," Kandjeke stated.

Furthermore, the AG also uncovered unauthorised payments totalling N$6.3 million, which he said were unauthorised in terms of Section 6 (a) (ii) of the Act.

Although treasury approval was obtained to utilise certain expected savings for the defrayals of expenditure through virements during the year, three operational sub-divisions were exceeded with N$826 692, which is unauthorised in terms of Section 6 (a) (ii) of the Act.

"The accounting officer should put measures in place to avoid over-spending, and should ensure that planned activities are implemented within the approved budget," Kandjeke advised, adding that if specific activities are expected to exceed the budgeted funds due to unforeseen circumstances, funds should be viremented from activities where savings are expected.