The office of the Auditor General has requested the Omaheke Regional Council (ORC) to rectify the embezzlement of funds at the council for the financial years ending on 31st March 2020.
Referencing a report from the Public Service Commission regarding the embezzlement of funds at the Omaheke Regional Council, evidence was found indicating that employees within the Human Resources department were involved in fraudulent activities.
‘Specifically, they have identified instances of employees inflating working hours, making false claims for overtime payments and diverting funds for personal use amounting to N. dollars 3 003. This matter remained unresolved by the end of the financial year.’
‘The employees in question have since repaid the council as of the conclusion of the 2020/2021 financial year and are no longer employed by the council. However, the inefficiencies in the control measures that allowed for the embezzlement have not been addressed,’ as stated in the report.
The report also recommended that the regional council take immediate action to address the findings in the human resources department. It also suggested that the council implement more robust internal controls to prevent such fraudulent activities from occurring in the future.
Furthermore, the report indicated that there was no approved fixed assets policy in place, a matter that had also been reported in the financial audits for the financial years 2018 and 2019. According to the report, the council did not maintain a fixed asset register, which posed challenges for auditors.
‘It is recommended that the council approve and implement a fixed assets policy, which should encompass essential components such as asset valuation policies, depreciation policies, maintenance of the fixed assets register, asset control and security, regular asset inspections, and asset disposal.’
The auditor general also noted that a number of accounts totaling N. dollars 32 220 320 in the financial statements could not be reconciled in the general ledger submitted. Consequently, the auditors recommended that the council ensure that all accounts are recorded in the general ledger.
The report further highlighted that the council had disclosed a capital project bank account with a favorable balance of N. dollars 10 966 628, which had been declared dormant by commercial banks and only contained N. dollars 3 784 by the end of the reporting period.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency