Chelva Wells 

Auditor General Junias Kandjeke has denied the Rehoboth Town Council’s second request for an extension to submit financial statements for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 fiscal years.

This is after the town council failed to provide the financial reports by June 2024.

In a letter dated 23 October 2024, Kandjeke said “I have carefully reviewed your request, and would like to inform you that the town council has previously been granted an extension for the 2022 and 2023 financial years until June 2024, as per my letter dated 29 April 2024.

Unfortunately, granting an additional extension, including the 2024 financial year, would lead to a delay of over a year in the submission of these already-extended financial statements”.

In his audit report on the accounts of the Rehoboth Town Council for the years ending 30 June 2017, 2018 and 2019, he expressed a disclaimer of audit opinion after it failed to disclose uncertainties about its ability to continue operating as a going concern.

This is a requirement under the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

For the years under review, the council’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets, with accumulated deficits of N$9.2 million and N$27.6 million in 2018, respectively.

Additionally, comparative figures for 2017 were omitted, failing to clarify the impact of accounting policy changes related to IPSAS adoption. 

The audit report highlighted an unexplained difference in the 2017 value-added tax (VAT)
control account’s opening balance.

This amounts to N$23.6 million, alongside reconciliation discrepancies between the VAT account and the Receiver of Revenue’s statements: N$18.5 million in 2017, N$2.3 million in 2018 and N$1.3 million in 2019.

Payroll discrepancies were also a concern, with differences of N$11.3 million for 2017, N$1.8 million for 2018, and N$3.3 million for 2019 between payroll reports and the general ledger. Kandjeke criticised the council for its failure to submit timely financial statements and address these inconsistencies. He emphasised the need for stronger financial accountability.

The council’s spokesperson Desire Pieters confirmed that their last completed audit was in 2019. 

Audits for the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years have since been completed. “The audits for 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 are underway. It will proceed once the financial statements for those specific years are finalised,” she said. -Nampa