The recently-concluded independent special audit into the accounts of the University of Guyana (UG) which was facilitated by the University of the West Indies (UWI) has revealed that the institution has a deficit of $482M, of which $50M is owed to part-time lecturers.

This was disclosed yesterday by UG Vice Chancellor, Professor Jacob Opadeyi who was at the time addressing members of the media at a press conference in UG’s Education Lecture Theatre on the Turkeyen Campus.
According to Professor Opadeyi, the university’s deficit includes monies owed to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) as well as for pension and security on the campus.
He stated that the special audit was done pro bono by four auditors from UWI. UG did not pay them any professional fees but paid their airfare and for their  accommodation and food while they were in the country.
Opadeyi explained that the audit was divided into three phases, with the last phase being completed on Friday last and while they have received the final report for phase 1 and 2 they are still awaiting the final report for the third phase.
He disclosed that currently the audit revealed that there is a total lack of system control in the accounting processes of the university and the integrity of the accounting system was weakened by the lack of effective monthly reconciliation.
Opadeyi said that the salary account reconciliation for December 2012 revealed that there were un-presented cheques totalling $19M, and “this should have raised an alarm when persons are not collecting their salaries within two weeks, you must raise an alarm.”
According to him, the university currently pays $120M in salaries every month, and the audit observed that bank and other reconciliations are not always done on a monthly basis and very often the date of preparation is not disclosed.
He said that this reflects a significant number of reconciling differences which are not being investigated, cleared or posted to the accounts in a timely manner.
Opadeyi further stated that the audit revealed that there are 22 other reconciling differences totalling $8M, and $2M of these represent cheques which were drawn during the period of August- December, 2012 but which were omitted from the general ledger.
He pointed out that when there is any omission, someone has to explain and the audit revealed that there was no evidence of any thorough investigation of this.

LONG LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS
According to Opadeyi, they do not go after who owes them and they do not know how much they are owed and the audit observed that the financial system of the university had broken down for years.
He disclosed that the university is currently discussing several arrangements with the Government of Guyana to fix the financial situation at the university, since the audit has given them a long list of recommendations.
Opadeyi stated that those recommendations require money and policies and they are looking to hire a consultant who will put those policies and regulations in place for them, and they have also been looking into the cost to do this.
He stressed that once the university presents its plan to move forward, the government will decide if they will come to their rescue and give them money to take care of their liabilities.
According to him, the management led by the vice chancellor must provide plans of what are the mechanisms they are going to put in place to make sure that what happened before will not recur.
He said that currently he is telling the government not to pump any money into the university until the financial system is reconstructed.
Opadeyi said they are going to review the organizational structure of the bursary and hire competent and qualified staff to manage the affairs of the university.