dyton mupawaenda
Lovemore Dube and Raymond Jaravaza
HIGHLANDERS FC have suspended long serving finance officer Sihlalisiwe Mnkandla for alleged insubordination and suspected fraud.
The Highlanders board and executive were due to meet last night to discuss the issue and several others as things seem not in order within the club’s finances with a lot suspected to have been swept under the carpet in recent years.
Only recently a club internal audit volunteer Bekezela Ngoma quit after refusing to agree to unethical accounting practice that would prejudice the club.
Ngoma confirmed that he had tendered his resignation and would only return if the committee sticks to accounting principle and practice.
Mnkandla was told on Tuesday morning by the club executive to stop coming to work with immediate effect.
She is accused of failing to avail financial documents requested by auditors looking into the club’s books for the 2023 financial year. The club took exception to what they considered insubordination after last year’s delay allegedly caused by her when she dragged her feet when asked to make available finance office documents. This year auditors wanted to start the exercise early and were shocked to meet her at the door leaving at the appointment time.
This appeared to rile the executive and board who were left with egg on their face after they failed to present accounts for last year at the club’s annual general meeting in January this year.
Under then under-fire treasurer Busani Mthombeni who eventually quit, the club eventually got members to browse through the accounts months into the season meaning the club was operating without a budget an unprecedented move in the club’s history.
Asked about the suspension, club spokesperson Nozibeli Maphosa said: “We are not aware of the allegations.”
She could not respond on the affirmative when probed further if Mnkandla was at work opting for the seven-word whatsapp platform response.
Maphosa was also mum on the issue of alleged fraudulent membership and a machine that prints cards donated by a Harare businessman.
The suspension comes hot on the heels of an adverse opinion that was presented by the clubs auditors — PNA Chartered Accountants — who found the financial books at the Bulawayo giants to be in shambles at the beginning of the year.
Israel Moyo, an accountant by profession, who has also been the club’s secretary-general is said to be the most unpopular man within some corridors of the club after establishing various avenues that are prejudicing the club.
A source close to the suspended official confirmed that Mnkandla had been told to stop reporting to work pending a dossier of allegations over and above the insubordination.
“With the upcoming elections next year around the corner, a lot is happening at the club and it’s not surprising that the finance lady has been suspended after she was accused of withholding documents that the executive has been demanding,” said the source.
Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of a card printing machine amid reports that 80 cards have mysteriously disappeared ahead of the January elections.
The office has often come under fire with alleged “ghost” voters coming to bring in their friends who have no appreciation of the team’s ethos and values.
It is the adverse opinion by auditors 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 that has prompted both executive and board to want a cleaner auditing exercise this time around.
Club sources at the time 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.
The audit report raised issues bordering around mismanagement, fraudulent activities, and illicit dealings which both board and executive are trying to weed out this time around despite the usual club fissures between the two structures and their supporters in the membership ranks.
Internal squabbles have become a norm at the club with several factions trying to wrestle the muscle to call the shots.
Online Reporter