Dr Jacob Opadeyi
Major financial irregularities have been unearthed at the University of Guyana (UG), Turkeyen Campus following a financial audit conducted by experts from the University of the West Indies (UWI). In addition to the financial discrepancies, the premier tertiary educational institution has incurred a debt of Gy$482 million. Vice Chancellor Dr Jacob Opadeyi made these disclosures on Tuesday during a press conference at the campus.
Based on the reports submitted from phases one and two of the audit, Dr Opadeyi said the university’s accounting system had collapsed over the years, creating major financial loopholes. Phase three of the audit was completed last Friday. The report is currently being compiled.
Ghost workers
The vice chancellor said the audit has indicated that there is a total lack of system control in the accounting processes at the university.
It was explained that in December 2012, there were unpresented cheques totalling Gy$19 million, of which Gy$900, 000 is still dated.
It therefore means that cheques were issued, but staffers failed to uplift their salaries.
“When you are managing a bursary, when you have people not collecting their salaries, within two weeks you must raise and alarm. The alarm could be, do we have ghost workers? Why anybody in the current state of Guyana and UG would not collect their salaries?” he asked.
The audit also found 22 other reconciliation differences totalling Gy$8.2 million in cheques, which were drawn during that period August 2012 to December 2012, but were omitted from the general ledger.
A general ledger is a complete record of financial transactions over the life of a company; in this case UG.
Reconciliation
As a result, the information presented on the monthly reconciliation of the general account may not be reliable Dr Opadeyi said, noting that the financial documents bear no evidence of review and approval. “Data can be changed at any time in our accounting system,” he lamented.
It was also pointed out that the Students’ Accounts Management System has major flaws, leaving space for the creation of fictitious figures, noting that there is no audit trail.
“So somebody can just change the student account and we will not know who changed it, when was it changed, why was it changed. So a student who owes Gy$200, 000, you can go the next day and see you owe zero,” the vice chancellor explained.
The vice chancellor said that he was prompted to conduct an audit into the financial affairs of the university after he observed vivid financial discrepancies shortly after his arrival.
It was based on the findings of the audit, which led to the dismissal of the Bursar John Seeram and the Senior Accountant Hazel Bentick. (Excerpt from Guyana Times)
