BRIEF HISTORY

On 21 March 1990 the appointment of the Auditor-General has been stipulated in Article 127 of the Namibian Constitution of the Republic of Namibia and his powers and duties in the State Finance Act of 1991(Act 31 of 1991).

During the year 1990, the Office did not have its own audit standards and used the following Acts as a basis for its audits:

• Namibian Constitution
• Treasury Instructions
• State Finance Acts

After 1990 the Office undertook different measures to achieve success in terms of International standards of Auditing. This was done through various means but was primarily driven by a Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) intervention to introduce International Audit Standards in 1994. All audits, since 2010, are based on International Standards for Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and the OAG subjects itself every three years to quality assurance peer reviews.

During the year 1990 the office only conducted Financial Audits on the following clients:

• Peri-Urban Development Board
• Central Authority as well as Miscellaneous Accounts
• Municipalities

Today the OAG has the audit responsibility for over 100 clients including the large spending Ministries like Defence, Health and Education, the Municipality of Windhoek and smaller clients like the Diamond Board of Namibia.

The OAG started producing national audit reports based on the Central government, Regional Authorities and Local Authorities, State Owned Enterprises, Statutory bodies and Funds. Financial Audit was changed to Regularity Audit and this includes Compliance Audit. The OAG introduced performance audit in 1996. After his appointment as Auditor-General in April 2003, Mr Junias etuna Kandjeke replaced combined reports with separate reports per entity. This reduced the waiting period for information from institutions that were not ready and helped to clear the backlog and speed up the process. Apart from separate reports for the Offices, Ministries and Agencies (OMAs), the Auditor-General published a Summary report for the Government of the Republic of Namibia.

The Auditor-General (AG) of Namibia became the Chairperson of Southern Africa Development Community Organisation for Supreme Audit Institutions (SADCOSAI) in 2004 until it was dissolved in 2010. The AG is the Founding Chairperson of AFROSAI-E, his inauguration was done by the Former President of South Africa, H.E Tambo Mbeki in April 2005. The AG chaired its Governing Board for six years until 2011. The OAG as a member of INTOSAI (International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions) became a member of the continental body AFROSAI in July 2005. The AG of Namibia was appointed to the continental Governing Board of AFROSAI since 2011 and 1st Vice President of AFROSAI on 29 October 2014 to 2017, when Namibia assumed the Presidency at the Congress held in Namibia, 2017. The OAG was the first Government auditors of SACU and SADCOPAC (SADC Organisations of Public Accounts Committees - of which PAC Namibia was the founding Chair). At the end of his 6 years term as Chair of AFROSAI-E and 3 years as auditor of SADCOPAC, the AG of Namibia was requested, and drafted the continental constitution of the AFROPAC (African Organization of Public Accounts Committee) which was adopted in Arusha, Tanzania in September 2013. In 2018 the Auditor-General of Namibia served as SADC representative at the AU Board of external auditors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Thereof, during the INTOSAI Congress held on the 27 September 2019, the Auditor-General was elected and approved to become a member of the governing board, representing Africa until 2025.

The AG of Namibia participated at the UN/ INTOSAI meeting in July 2011, Vienna that led to adoption of the 66th UN General Assembly resolution A/66/209 on 22 December 2011 "Promoting the efficiency, accountability, effectiveness and transparency of public administration by strengthening Supreme Audit Institutions". Therein, the UN General Assembly for the first time expressly recognizes that Supreme Audit Institutions can accomplish their tasks objectively only if they are independent of the audited entity and are protected against outside influence. The OAG has also hosted international meetings including the hosting and Chairing the 21st Commonwealth Auditors General Conference, Windhoek, 2011.