ACC: Budget not enough to fight graft
The Anti-Corruption commission says its budget allocation is not enough to execute its mandate.
CATHERINE SASMAN - The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) says the N$61.6 million budget proposed for its operations is woefully inadequate.
The ACC has pointed out that it needs at least N$62.4 million just to fulfil its contractual obligations such as salaries and transport expenditure.
The budget allocation means that it will barely be in a position to pursue its two main mandates, which are to investigate allegations of corruption and to prevent corruption.
The ACC at this stage does not have enough funding to fill two critical vacancies for investigators.
The ACC’s organisational structure provides for 36 investigating officers. In Botswana, with about the same population size, the anti-graft body has over 100 investigating officers.
The proposed operational budget also does not cater for additional special investigators such as auditors, engineers or quantity surveyors for forensic investigations.
Depleted
The ACC’s special operations account has been depleted, and its plea for more funding in the 2018/19 financial year was unsuccessful.
“We will simply not be in a position to fully execute our mandate,” says the ACC deputy director-general, advocate Erna van der Merwe.
Namibia is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which requires member states to adequately operate and fund their anti-corruption agencies.
Dr Samuel Chief Ankama, deputy minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, said the ACC, 13 years after its establishment, had the “potential to weather the storm of corruption”.
But he acknowledged that the ACC would not be able to investigate all allegations of corruption, given the limited proposed budget.
‘Re-examine formula’
“We shall have to re-examine the formula by which we fund ACC. A higher level of funding is a prerequisite to transforming the ACC into a formidable corruption-busting body the nation yearns for,” Ankama said.
Of the proposed N$61.6 million, an amount of N$23.3 million is allocated for the investigation of allegations of corruption.
From this, the ACC is expected to carry out investigations across Namibia, train investigating officers, maintain software analysis programmes, and engage with specialised experts.
Ankama said the ACC would be so curtailed in its functions that it would have to consider the seriousness of an allegation and whether an investigation would be justified and in the public interest.
Inevitably, Ankama said, the ACC would be required to prioritise allegations of corrupt practices that had the potential to undermine the country’s commercial and financial interests, cases with huge potential financial losses to the country, and cases in which there was significant public interest.
“This approach will go a long way in addressing society’s perception that high-profile cases are not attended to promptly or at all,” Ankama said.
N$12.7 million is allocated for crime prevention, and N$25.6 million for policy coordination and support services.
Ankama pointed out that the ACC’s budget had increased by only N$1 587 000 from the previous financial year.
In contrast, the proposed budget for the ministry of safety and security, under which the Namibian Police falls, is N$5.5 billion. The ACC’s proposed budget is a mere 1.1% of that and even less than that of the ministry of defence, which has a proposed budget of N$5.9 billion.
The ACC has pointed out that it needs at least N$62.4 million just to fulfil its contractual obligations such as salaries and transport expenditure.
The budget allocation means that it will barely be in a position to pursue its two main mandates, which are to investigate allegations of corruption and to prevent corruption.
The ACC at this stage does not have enough funding to fill two critical vacancies for investigators.
The ACC’s organisational structure provides for 36 investigating officers. In Botswana, with about the same population size, the anti-graft body has over 100 investigating officers.
The proposed operational budget also does not cater for additional special investigators such as auditors, engineers or quantity surveyors for forensic investigations.
Depleted
The ACC’s special operations account has been depleted, and its plea for more funding in the 2018/19 financial year was unsuccessful.
“We will simply not be in a position to fully execute our mandate,” says the ACC deputy director-general, advocate Erna van der Merwe.
Namibia is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which requires member states to adequately operate and fund their anti-corruption agencies.
Dr Samuel Chief Ankama, deputy minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, said the ACC, 13 years after its establishment, had the “potential to weather the storm of corruption”.
But he acknowledged that the ACC would not be able to investigate all allegations of corruption, given the limited proposed budget.
‘Re-examine formula’
“We shall have to re-examine the formula by which we fund ACC. A higher level of funding is a prerequisite to transforming the ACC into a formidable corruption-busting body the nation yearns for,” Ankama said.
Of the proposed N$61.6 million, an amount of N$23.3 million is allocated for the investigation of allegations of corruption.
From this, the ACC is expected to carry out investigations across Namibia, train investigating officers, maintain software analysis programmes, and engage with specialised experts.
Ankama said the ACC would be so curtailed in its functions that it would have to consider the seriousness of an allegation and whether an investigation would be justified and in the public interest.
Inevitably, Ankama said, the ACC would be required to prioritise allegations of corrupt practices that had the potential to undermine the country’s commercial and financial interests, cases with huge potential financial losses to the country, and cases in which there was significant public interest.
“This approach will go a long way in addressing society’s perception that high-profile cases are not attended to promptly or at all,” Ankama said.
N$12.7 million is allocated for crime prevention, and N$25.6 million for policy coordination and support services.
Ankama pointed out that the ACC’s budget had increased by only N$1 587 000 from the previous financial year.
In contrast, the proposed budget for the ministry of safety and security, under which the Namibian Police falls, is N$5.5 billion. The ACC’s proposed budget is a mere 1.1% of that and even less than that of the ministry of defence, which has a proposed budget of N$5.9 billion.
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