Audit unearths 2014 Games scandals

A CHIEF accountant in the then Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture inflated travel and subsistence allowances due to the former 2014 African Union Sports Council Region Five Under-20 Youth Games Local Organising Committee (LOC) officials by over US$300 000.

The chairperson and chief executive of the LOC, Khonzani Ncube and Elkannah Dube, authorised the LOC to receive goods worth over US$114 000 well after the official end of the Games.

The goods received included PlayStation consoles, shoes, television sets, bunk beds and tracksuits.

For that, US$38 617 was paid, leaving a balance of US$75 996.03.

Some of the goods received, according to well-placed sources, ended up being looted by some of the officials.

One official took electrical gadgets such as computers, photocopiers and printers and claimed the VIP regalia like jackets would be given to Members of Parliament. Another is believed to have given T-shirts to farm workers.

This is contained in a report by auditors, Deloitte.

Garikai Nemutenzi, chief accountant in the Ministry of Sports back then, provided to the auditors a schedule with outstanding travel and subsistence allowances of US$454 075.80 which was due to former LOC officials.

However, upon further investigations, the auditors noted the actual claims amounted to US$136 770.

“We examined all the 119 claims of unpaid LOC travel and subsistence allowances in the files provided by Sijingo (Lathi, LOC director of finance) and noted that they amounted to US$136 770,’’ the auditors said.

“We did not find supporting claim forms for the remaining US$317 305.80 on the outstanding schedule provided by Nemutenzi.’’

It was also noted that on December 14, 2014, after the official closure of the Games, LOC operations received goods and services amounting to US$114 613.03 following a directive from the chairperson and the chief executive.

“We interviewed Musekiwa (Simplicio, LOC administration and procurement director) who stated that Ncube (Thokozani,

LOC chairperson) and Dube (Elkannah, LOC chief executive officer) directed that the goods be received.

“Ncube confirmed in her email, dated October 31, 2017, that there were indeed late deliveries of goods and services and that all records pertaining to the Games were handed over to the Ministry of Sport and Recreation.

“She further stated that she could only competently comment on the goods and services received after the Games once she gets information from the Ministry of Sport and Recreation to whom she has directed her request for information through the MOSR’s permanent secretary.’’

A total of 14 companies supplied goods and services after the official closure of the Games.