Accounting chaos at Ohangwena

OFFICIALS of the Ohangwena Regional Council handed in travel and subsistence claims for N$269 507 but no documents to support these claims were available to the auditors, while N$2,6 million paid to a Chinese company was not properly recorded as expenditure, the latest audit report reveals.

‘Supporting documents for expenditure of N$780 698 to China Jiangsu International were not submitted for audit purposes,’ said Auditor General Junias Kandjeke in his audit report for the 2006 and 2007 financial years of the Council, which was tabled in Parliament last week.'[Another] N$1,86 million of expenditure to China Jiangsu International was not reflected in the general ledger and the cash book of the Council and as such expenditure for delegated functions could be understated.’ The total amount paid to the Chinese company came to N$2,6 million.Kandjeke further criticised that no documents accompanied claims made by Council officials for travel and subsistence totalling N$269 507. ‘It was also observed that outstanding [travel] advances are cleared off at the end of the financial year without claims being submitted.’ The audit team further discovered that the Ongha settlement still owed around N$660 000 for water to the Ohangwena Regional Council.