An analysis of the effects of daily subsistence allowances expenditure on the overall budget and service goals of the Ministry of Safety and Security in Namibia
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Date
2020
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University of Namibia
Abstract
As per the State Finance Act, 1991, to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses for trave I
expenses incurred when on work-related responsibilities and to encourage staff to attend
professional development activities, the Daily subsistence allowances (DSA) rates had to
be established. However, weaknesses in the control of daily subsistence allowances
expenditure can cause problems, including distortions of human resource systems, fraud ,
and misuse by the staffs, which has the potential to affect government's objectives
adversely through corruption. The purpose ofthis study was to analyse the effects of daily
subsistence allowances expenditure on the overall budget and service goals ofthe Ministry
of Safety and Security in Windhoek, Namibia as from the financial year 20 I 0/20 I I to
2015/2016. The analysis of daily subsistence allowances effects on the overall budget
identifies the risks of malpractice and fraud and offer suggestions for improvement. The
study applied mixed methods. The population size was 174 and the sample size comprised
of I 08 respondents. The research instrument used in this study was a self-administered
questionnaire, distributed to I 08 respondents. The study found out that, overspending has
become the order ofthe day and this is done at the expense of service delivery. There was
too much movement of members for the same mission and time. This revealed that there
are no proper measures to control the activities when it comes to official missions.
Sometimes staffs have created unnecessary missions just to earn extra income to solve
their problems, and this harms daily subsistence allowances expenditure and the
Ministry's overall budget. In addition to that, the study also found that there was a lack of
financial control measures caused by poor management and lack of accountability
regarding the use of daily subsistence allowances in the line Ministry. Given the findings
of the research, the researcher recommends that theM inistry o fSafety and Security should
make a yearly plan for their missions, which the line Minister are supposed to know by
the beginning of the year. The Mission Committee must be the one in charge of the
planning of the mission, organising, approval and knowing who is travelling while
ensuring that people arc rotating fairly. This will help to improve the effectiveness of
managing the Daily Subsistence Allowances expenditure
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Business Administration in Finance
Keywords
Daily subsistence allowances expenditure, Ministry of Safety and Security, Namibia, University of Namibia