Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo
IN what can only be described as a shocking turn of events, Highlanders Football Club has received an adverse opinion from their auditors on their financial statements. That’s right, the auditors have red-flagged the club’s books, which means they cannot vouch for their authenticity due to possible fraudulent or cooked accounts.
This is certainly bad news for the club, as an adverse opinion indicates that the financial statements do not fairly represent the financial position, results of operations, and changes in financial position, as per generally accepted accounting principles.
Club sources have revealed that the auditors handed over the damning opinion to the Bosso executive and board before the Easter Holidays. At a joint meeting held on April 12, an insinuation was presented by the executive that the external auditors were not “professional” and were bent on ‘fixing” them. However, this was met with shock by some of the meeting participants, who asked why the auditors would decide to be unprofessional when they have a reputation to protect and have been doing the club’s books for years.
Highlanders failed to produce audited financial statements at their January 29 annual general meeting, promising that their external auditors needed between three to four weeks to wrap up the process. However, they missed the March deadline, and it’s believed that the club’s finance department is frantically working on addressing the queries raised by the auditors.
According to impeccable sources, the audit report raises issues bordering around mismanagement, fraudulent activities, and illicit dealings. There are so many queries that have been raised by the auditors, including failure to produce camping receipts, missing fuel voucher receipts, and discrepancies in bonus payments.
“There are so many queries that have been raised by the auditors and that audit opinion comes as adverse is worrisome. This is an unfortunate first for Highlanders to have such a damning report.
“Some of the issues that the auditors raise we hope will be addressed quickly because an adverse opinion isn’t good at all. Some of the things picked include failure to produce camping receipts. Really, camping receipts of about USS$3 000, how can they vanish? How do you explain that someone issued fuel vouchers but there are no receipts?
“There’s also an issue where three employees had part of their Independence Cup bonuses recalled and that was confirmed but that money which was recalled doesn’t indicate in the books, surely that’s not it,” said a source.
It’s certainly not looking good for Highlanders, especially since they pride themselves on upholding good governance and clean accounts. The club treasurer, Busani Mthombeni, is responsible for the financial management of Highlanders, according to Article 8 of the Highlanders constitution. He was not available for comment.
It’s not clear whether the joint meeting was a follow-up to the report to management (RTM), which is written before the audit report. The sticking point of the audit, according to sources, was on the preferred functional currency, which was eventually addressed. The auditors reportedly argued that since the club’s majority revenue or expenditure was in US dollars, it was only proper that the financials are reported in foreign currency.
Meanwhile, repeated efforts to get comment from the club since Tuesday hit a brick wall, with the Highlanders spokesperson Nozibelo Maphosa saying: “Unfortunately, I can’t comment on the questions you sent. I’ve forwarded them to my superiors and I will get back to you.”
@Zililo
Online Reporter