A chief accountant in the then Ministry of Sport, Arts and
Culture inflated travel and subsistence allowances for the 2014 African Union
Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games local organising committee (LOC)
officials by over US$300 000, according to a Deloitte and Touche audit report.
According to the report, the chairperson and chief
executive officer of the LOC Khonzani Ncube and Elkanah Dube, authorised LOC
operations to receive goods worth over US$114 000 well after the Games had
ended.
The goods included PlayStation consoles, shoes, television
sets, bunk beds and tracksuits, among a huge list. US$38 617 was paid, leaving
a balance of US$75 996,03.
Some of the goods received, according to well placed
sources, were grabbed by high ranking Ministry of Sport officials, some of who
are now serving in the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation.
One official also took electrical gadgets such as
computers, photocopiers and printers and claimed that VIP regalia such as
jackets would be given to Members of Parliament, while another is believed to
have given the T-shirts to his farm workers.
Garikai Nemutenzi, chief accountant in the then Ministry of
Sports, Arts and Culture, gave auditors a schedule with outstanding travel and
subsistence allowances of US$454 075,80 due to former LOC officials.
However, upon further investigations, the auditors noted
that 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. We did not find
supporting claim forms for the remaining US$317 305,80 on the outstanding
schedule provided by Nemutenzi,” reads the report.
Ncube and Dube issued a directive on December 14, 2014,
after the Games had ended that LOC operations receive goods and services
amounting to US$114 613,03.
“We interviewed Musekiwa (Simplicio), (LOC administration
and procurement director), who stated that Ncube (Khonzani), LOC chairperson
and Dube (Elkanah), 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
permanent secretary,” wrote the auditors.
A total of 14 companies supplied goods and services after
the official closure of the Games. Chronicle
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