-face arrest
Tonderai saharo
Masvingo- Kyle preparatory school head and his bursar are in the eye of a storm after a damming audit report released early this week poked holes in a US$102 000, the institution received from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) to host the taxman’s games.
The report was tabled to the school authorities by Sanya Properties (Pvt) Ltd auditors mandated by Kyle School Trust represented by the board of governors to carry out financial impact on Kyle School Trust for hosting the ZIMRA gala in December last year.
The gala was jointly hosted with Kyle College which provided catering services.
Kyle School Trust board of governors set up an initial subcommittee to investigate the transactions since the Zimra gala was not sanctioned by the board.
The auditors cited the head Tafadzwa Chindanya, bursar, Epiphania Singadi and assistant bursar Tapiwa Makore as the key suspects on allegations of milking school funds by falsifying purchases and paying none existent accommodation fees for gala participants
The auditors said the head failed to understand the magnitude and impact of the gala to Kyle School Trust resulting in the being prejudiced of thousands of dollars as the procurement committee was not involved in any purchases done during the event.
This exposed the school to purchases which were not independently scrutinised. More so, for these purchases there were no Goods Received Vouchers issued for the receipt of the goods, nor any stock sheets created.
“It becomes very difficult to confirm whether all purchases were delivered and consumed by the school. When asked why he did not involve a board member as one signatory on the BancABC account transactions as is done on the other accounts following a written standing instruction, he said the Bursar had highlighted there was no problem since this was an old account which they used to transact with no board involvement.
“Since they continued spending after the gala was over, the head should have also sought the permission of the Board in line with the dictates of his job description and in line with the school’s constitution – responsible for expenditure of such portion of the income of the school as the Board determines” reads part of the report
Kyle School Trust (Kyle Preparatory) is a community private school run by a board of governors which appoints key staff like the head. The head supervises the bursar on financial issues who in turn supervises the assistant bursar. The school has a Procurement committee headed by a chair.
The auditors added that from the bank statement, Zimra paid in a total $593 169 921.00 RTGS in three instalments on 30 November 2023 into Kyle school account 12002175502014, which was equivalent to US$102 000 at the then prevailing interbank rate.
These deposits were not receipted or posted on pastel, the school’s internal financial capturing system.
“From this school account, a total of eight transfers were done by the head and the Bursar. Of these eight transfers, only one transaction which is stated as being for food items was done during the duration of the games,” the report said.
Only ZWL$140 000 000 was paid to N. Richards Group on 1 December 2023 during hosting of the event.
The following transfers totaling ZWL$438 425 741 were all done as from 4 December 2023, after the games were finished: i. $144 009 600.00 to N. Richards on 4 December 2023 ii. $35 000 000.00 to Veincloack on 4 December 2023 iii. $30 000 000.00 to Mukumba on 4 December 2023 iv. $144 000 000.51 to N.Richards on 4 December 2023 v. $75 680 416.53 to Masvingo City on 4 December 2023 vi. $8 675 000.00 to Benchmark on 6 December 2023 vii. $1 061 324.00 to Nash paints on 11 December 2023 .
“Of the above, the N. Richards transfers on numbers i, iii and iv above as well as the transfer no. ii to Veincloack make up a total of $353 009 600.51 for USD conversion at the black market stated rate of ZWL$9 850 (USD$35 838.54)
“This is US$ which was converted after the games were finished and is the same US$ being stated by the bursar to have bought groceries and goods during the games from 1 to 3 December 2023, which is not possible.
“In her income and expenditure breakdown, the bursar also highlights these were the converted transfers. (h) From a record given by the bursar on the income and expenditure on Annex C, a total of 29 expense items were listed as being bought using the total US$35 838.54 obtained at the black market from the ZWL transfers totaling ZWL$353 009 600.51 at their stated average rate of ZWL$9 850. How these items were bought when they only had US$14 213.20 from ZWL$140 000 000.00 transferred on 1 December 2023 remains a mystery,” reads part of the report.
In their final report the auditors said it was prudent for the board to make a police report as the key suspects defrauded the school of a sunstantial amount.
‘In terms of Kyle School Trust guidance the key suspects Tafadzwa Chindanya, Tapiwa Makore and Epiphania Singadi were negligent in ensuring that the financial procedures are adhered to, such as ensuring that the procurement committee functioned during the gala, GRVs were issued for the goods bought, all postings were properly captured and that all payments should have at least one signature of the authorised board member.
“The suspects deliberately collapsed the control systems for their own benefit. This exposed Kyle School Trust to serious risks of fraud. I recommend disciplinary hearing. The key suspects were negligent not to follow the internal processes,” reads the report.
