NBC Director General Stanley Similo says the organisation has introduced an audit tracking system and has improved its asset register.
He added that NBC transitioned to IPSAS accounting standards in April last year and expects full compliance within two years.
Similo said this during a public hearing focused on the Auditor General's reports for the 2023 and 2024 financial years.
The public hearing was conducted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts, with NBC board members and executives.
During the hearing, the corporation presented its asset register, which records the cost and location of equipment and vehicles.
NBC revealed that its total assets are valued at about N$1.6 billion.
However, concerns were raised over the entity owing Huawei a total amount of N$184 million.
The corporation, however, says it only owes a total of N$3 million, which Huawei agreed to.
"NBC owes Huawei an amount of N$184 million for equipment that was ordered and manufactured as per the DTT migration project of the NBC. There is no recognition and disclosure of the outstanding amount of N$184 million in the annual financial statements in accordance with the requirements of IAS 37, paragraph 10, read with paragraph 11 and/or paragraph 40. And no sufficient appropriate evidence was provided regarding the outstanding invoices or how the outstanding amount was ascertained, asked member of the parliamentary standing committee John-Louw Mouton.
In response, Similo said the figure falls below the 12 million dollars reporting threshold used by auditors; hence, it was not reported.
"We already had some agreements and understandings. So the amount of N$184 million that is referenced is not an amount that we owe. This would have been if DDT had continued. And this is what we've been telling the auditors to say: that look, the N$184 million that you are seeing there is not an amount that we owe WOWI or any other body for that matter because we terminated the agreement in terms of proceeding with DDT."
Similo also clarified differences in employee leaves and the organisation's cost-to-company structure.
"But subsequent to that, just to move forward, that matter has since been resolved, and in fact it should actually not even be appearing because we did send through information to the audit firm to indicate that, look, this is what we've done and this is what we've given you. As to whether they received that in time before they came out with their audit, Ms Brendell, I am not too sure, but where we are now, yes, the recognition legally is there. For those that came after 2015-2016, they are on 45 days, and for those that were there before, they will still be recognised for their 90 days."
Other issues raised during the hearing included delays in infrastructure renovations, the use of freelance workers and employee leave policies.
NBC Board Chairperson Lazarus Jacobs explained that freelancers are used to support operations.
"We cannot be in a situation where we say, 'Yes, let's take up all these people; let's give them all payment appointments; let's give them additional benefits.' Before you know it, 90% of our expenditure is just stuff. That's why what we have done as an organisation is we say, 'Thank you very much, government, for the subsidy,' which is a legal imperative because in the NBC excess, the government will fund the operations of the NBC but from our own sources. We try to increase the revenue in terms of, you know, advertising and developing new products to also generate our own income. I don't know which honourable member mentioned here that we don't know how sustainable it is going to be for the government to constantly fund the NBC, but we are aggressively working on generating our own income."