The Outapi Town Council was hauled over the coals by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Economy after the auditor general flagged irregularities in its financial statements for 2019 and 2020.
A disclaimer opinion is issued when auditors can not obtain sufficient evidence to support expenditures during an audit.
“I have not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide an audit opinion,” stated Auditor General (AG) unias Kandjeke.
All reports were compiled in February, and tabled in the National Assembly for review. In 2019, auditors were unable to observe the physical inventory account, which was valued at N$438 486 in the financial statements.
Additionally, the council did not disclose inventories relating to erven which were available for sale at the end of the financial year.
“As a result, the auditors were unable to obtain sufficient evidence to confirm the existence, completeness and valuation of the inventory through alternative audit procedures,” he stated.
Auditors also identified unsupported payments amounting to N$2.2 million contained in the bulk reconciliation of the town council.
These relate to payments which were done after the year-end, but have been recorded as if they happened before year-end, resulting in an understatement of the accounts payables’ balance and cash equivalents’ balance by the same amount. Consequently, auditors were unable to satisfy themselves as to the completeness, existence and valuation of cash and cash equivalents, and accounts payables.
In that same year, the council had undetermined land which was neither valued nor disclosed as investment property, as required by its accounting policy of using the fair value model for such properties.
In 2020, the council could not account for N$3.1 million due to discrepancies in the capital reserve fund, government contribution fund, Build Together fund, and Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia housing fund.
Other irregularities brought to light included the non-disclosure in the council’s accounting policies on how the investment in Nored is measured.
The investment in Nored is accounted for as non-current asset in the financial statements.
Other related disclosures omitted include transactions and balances, comprising a Namwater water purchase of N$ 7.8 million, and contributions to the Omusati Regional Council of N$708 046.
Additionally, the budget disclosed in the financial statements does not correspond with the approved budget, prompting a material difference amounting to N$2.7 million between the approved budget of N$58.8 million and the budget disclosed in the financial statements of N$56 million.
When questioned, Outapi Town Council CEO Nashilongo Ananias attributed the irregularities to challenges with the transition to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), which was officially introduced as the financial reporting framework for public sector entities. He said the finance personnel were unfamiliar with the new system, and no training had been provided to guide them.
“It was left to each local authority to find someone for assistance, and after consulting with other local authorities, everyone seemed confused. We were helped by someone with limited knowledge, and we didn’t even know what to include in the policy,” Ananias added.
However, his explanation was challenged by a parliamentary committee member, who pointed out that the council had been using IPSAS since 2018, a year before its official introduction.
This left Ananias at a loss for words.
The CEO further claimed that during the financial period in question, the council had not received any management report from the auditor general.
He added that the council had gone without audits for three years until the fourth year, when he requested one from the AG.
This raised concerns about the council’s governance, and its failure to be audited for such a long period.
When asked if any resolutions or action plans had been developed to address the issues, a committee member noted: “If the council receives disclaimers year after year, it will collapse. With this report, it will be difficult for the council to secure any funding, and even investors will be reluctant to invest in the town.”
Ananias claimed that most of the issues raised by the AG in 2019/2020 had been resolved, although no evidence or report was provided to confirm these resolutions.
“We have decided to train our finance personnel on IPSAS, and we have budgeted for this. The auditor recently completed a management exit report and was satisfied with most issues, as many had been addressed,” he noted.