Windhoek:The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security received a qualified audit opinion for the financial year ending 31 March 2025 due to financial discrepancies and inadequate supporting documentation identified by the Auditor-General.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the Auditor-General's report, presented in the National Assembly by Finance Minister Ericah Shafudah, highlighted several issues affecting the accuracy of the ministry's financial statements. Among these were outstanding commitments of N$142.28 million and an under-expenditure of N$41.76 million.

Auditor-General Junias Kandjeke noted the inability to verify the recorded commitments as actual due to the absence of supporting documents. Additionally, a discrepancy of N$548,074.89 was found in subsistence and travel advances, with figures differing between financial statements and accounting records. A further discrepancy of N$1.53 million appeared in a suspense account.

The audit revealed a N$10.09 million discrepancy between the ministry's opening and closing stock balances, with opening stock valued at N$5.35 million, compared to N$15.44 million at closing. In the Namibian Police Force, a discrepancy of N$4.07 million in stock balances was noted, leading to an overstatement of closing stock.

Discrepancies were also found in the ministry's appropriation accounts, with a N$5 million difference between the original budget and approved appropriation for both the civil registration and immigration control divisions.

The report indicated that N$4.95 million was spent post-completion of the Keetmanshoop police station, which was not properly accounted for. Additionally, 36 unauthorized expenditure transactions totaling N$10.50 million were identified under state finance.

Kandjeke concluded that while the financial statements were fairly presented, the identified matters impacted the overall assessment, resulting in the qualified opinion.