An accountability report relating to how the N.dollars 8.1 billion set aside to soften the impact of COVID-19 was spent remains unavailable.

There is equally no accountability report for donations received by the government from different organisations and countries in the wake of the global pandemic’s outbreak.

This conclusion could be deduced from Prime Minister (PM) Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s response on Friday when she was quizzed by journalists to provide intricate details into the N.dollars 8.1 billion stimulus package that government committed as an economic response against the pandemic.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was quick to note that at a later stage, the Office of the Auditor General (AG), would look into government’s COVID-19 expenditure and donations.

“Indeed there was accounting provided as of donations that were made towards COVID-19. Donations were provided through different forms and to different government institutions,” she said, adding that every penny will be accounted for.

“We did give an account of how much was received and what was allocated to what and what remained in the account but we are aware that that report was not sufficient in terms of [an] accountability report,” she conceded.

Sources close to the fiscus, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that a comprehensive accountability report was being prepared and should be ready by September.

In addition, the PM said the AG is seized with the matter.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s comments come at a time when some observers have asserted that government had not pumped N.dollars 8.1 billion into the local economy as communicated.

“There was never an N.dollars 8.1 billion stimulus. Simple arithmetic shows that the effective package was about N.dollars 2.3 billion. The other is monies that government owed to businesses and the loan guarantees depend on the loan decisions by households and businesses [as well as] commercial banks assessments,” local economist, Omu Kakujaha-Matundu, said recently.

Source: Namibia Press Agency