Khomas finances chaotic

THE annual financial statements of the Khomas Regional Council were found to lack several important supporting documents for income and expenditure and an investment amount of N$4.3 million could not be verified, the Auditor General recorded in his latest audit of the Council.

There was further a difference of N$985 855 found between the financial statements and the general ledger for the 2005-06 financial year, the audit found. The report was tabled in Parliament last Thursday and covers the 2005-06 and the 2006-07 financial years.’The audit opinion has been qualified,’ Auditor General Junias Kandjeke stated in the report. A qualified opinion means that the auditor disagrees with the treatment or disclosure of some information in the financial statements. The Khomas Regional Council was further rapped over the knuckles for not keeping a fixed asset register. ‘As a result the auditors could not confirm the correctness of the values reflected in the balance sheets as well as the existence and completeness thereof,’ Kandjeke criticised. The Council could not produce supporting documents for expenditure of over two million dollars, N$1.4 million for the 2005-06 financial year and N$953 979 during the 2006-07 financial year. Income of N$700 000 could not be verified and an investment of N$4.3 million could not be verified against an investment certificate. The Khomas Regional Council used N$15.6 million for operating expenses in the 2006-07 year, but half of it was used for salaries. It further received N$11.6 million grant from the Ministry of Local, Regional Government and Housing for its ‘day-to-day operations,’ according to the audit report. More money was coming from the City of Windhoek, since regional capitals must send 5 per cent of the income they collect from property rates to their respective regional councils.The City of Windhoek paid over N$6.9 million to the Khomas Regional Council in the 2006-07 year and slightly less the year before, namely N$5 million.