adminNkomo, whose alleged poor handling of funds was exposed by the same audit company last month when the club sought to find out how he came to be owed $80 000, seems to be deeper in trouble.
When asked to comment on the allegations yesterday, Nkomo refused.
“Dube I have no comment,” was all Nkomo could say.
In a letter written on 24 September this year and addressed to Highlanders Football Club to the attention of Nkomo, the auditors said they had noted some discrepancies.
Sources at the Highlanders Clubhouse last week said figures submitted by the PSL on request by the club had been tampered with to tally with what was being presented at Mondays review meetings. The club was no longer using reconciliation sheets provided at the end of the match to the PSL, home team, Sport and Recreation Commission and Bulawayo City Council. Instead text messages were used.
It was until recently that it was established that the PSL was giving the club such papers which were however, not finding their way to club meetings. The figures presented by the league have shown that the club could have been prejudiced of almost $37 000.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority might have lost as much as $7 500 in potential revenue as well.
“We have reviewed the gate-takings schedule we received from you against our independently confirmed figures with the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
“There are large discrepancies between these set of figures. Please reconcile these differences with the Premier Soccer League’s and promptly send back to us. We will also send your figures to the Premier Soccer League for them to identify any errors on their schedule against yours,” wrote Phillip Ndlovu, a chartered accountant working for Grant Thorton.
According to figures submitted by the league, Highlanders had $134 518 raised through the gates in 2009. Nkomo submitted that $126 100 was what the club got which was $8 418 less than what the PSL has on record.
This was after 55 333 people paid to watch the club’s matches in that year. Nkomo’s figures reflect that 2 017 less people had watched the club’s matches.
Bosso’s share of the net revenue after deductions of expenses that year should have been $38 588 but Nkomo came up with net revenue of $25 910 which is $12 678 less.
If the PSL figures are correct Zimra might have lost $1 096 in potential revenue.
In 2010 a total of $109 972 was raised by the paying public at the Bulawayo team’s matches after 54 495 people paid at the turnstiles.
The sums from PSL and those held by Nkomo differ. In his books more people watched Highlanders matches than what the PSL has. Nkomo’s revenue in terms of figures is $4 974 more than what is reflected on the PSL records.
Under the same vein Zimra might have been paid $894 more.
Last year Highlanders failed to account for $24 444 of its own club share. According to the Premier Soccer League $76 102 was the club’s share of the gate-takings while Nkomo had $51 658 representing prejudice of about $24 444 to Highlanders and $6 442 to Zimra.
Highlanders called in auditors after Nkomo allegedly paid himself what he said he was owed by the club from the proceeds of the Highlanders/Dynamos match on 3 June this year.
Asked to comment on the goings-on at the club, Bosso board secretary Jimmy Ncube said the club was yet to sit down with Nkomo. He could not shed light as to whether or not Nkomo had refunded the club the $6 680 he paid himself.
“It’s work in progress, we are not dragging our feet on this case. What is happening is that after that incident we had another anomaly that was uncovered and auditors have just written to him to come and explain,” said Ncube.
There are divisions within the club’s board members with some not keen to see the rot in the club being addressed while others want the mess cleaned in order to protect the club and its legacy.
When asked why they were mum even when auditors have proved that figures submitted to them were doctored, Ncube said they would be guided by the final report.
Last month after board members said they were not happy with information being leaked to particular media houses and journalists, it was then resolved that the club should issue a statement.
In the statement written by board chairman Dumisani Sandi, he admitted that there was dirt in their closet.
Sandi even threatened members of the media in his statement amid growing concerns over the way he has managed the club that has remained a begging bowl case despite winning five championships in a decade.
“We will not wash our dirty linen in public. Lest I be misquoted again, any club or organisation for that matter, that has no dirty linen at some stage or point in time is dead and buried before it sees the light of day. But instead of those scribes that are entrusted with telling it as it is, exalting and highlighting the end result, they will seek to shower praises on the roughness of the terrain leading to unsung heroism.
“The unfortunate thing is that they seem to be oblivious of the inevitable dangers that lie ahead both for themselves as well as their masters,” he said.
Online Reporter