The Office of the President was grilled by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts for failing to provide evidence of payments running into thousands of dollars. 

Some of these payments were made to third parties without any documentation.

This is the second time the Office of the President has appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee in Windhoek.

Among the allegations was that a staff member was given over N$66,000 to pay for San learners in the Khomas Region. The control measures were totally disregarded, as any cash money should be paid directly to the beneficiary.

In response, the Presidency claimed that the third party was the guardian of the children. 

They could, however, not provide evidence of proof of these guardianships. 

They were also asked to explain why they opted to make manual deposits instead of using the online banking systems and to prove that the payments into the bank accounts indeed belonged to the 19 beneficiaries.

The Director of State House and Administration in the Office of the President said that 10 of the beneficiaries received payment through the bank, while the other nine received deposits via Shoprite.

Alma Nambundunga could not provide evidence to prove that the money did reach the intended beneficiaries. 

The members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee expressed disappointment in the office’s failure to provide evidence of proof.

Stating that the Office of the President has no regard for the committee’s work as they had over two weeks to present these documents.