Poor audits leave COB unable to use $16.1m loan

As of Wednesday, September 30, 2015

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Report

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

POOR auditing practices at The College of The Bahamas (COB) have prevented the institution from using the funds from a $16.1m Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) loan intended to help upgrade it as it seeks to transition to university status this year.

The college was at least four years behind in audits when the Christie administration moved to borrow the funds for its development from the CDB last October, The Tribune understands.

COB Council Chairman Alfred Sears said on Friday: “We have since completed two of those four years (of audits) and as I understand it, the progress has been satisfactory to the (CDB).”

Although the conditions for the CDB loan were never disclosed to the public, COB’s out-of-date audits mean it has failed to meet one of the stipulations for accessing the money.

It also puts the college in violation of the College of the Bahamas Act. The legislation says that COB’s accounts must be inspected by an auditor appointed by COB’s Council every year.

“Three months after the end of each financial year, the college shall submit a copy of the audited accounts to the minister together with a copy of any report made by the auditor. The minister shall lay a copy of every such audited accounts before each House of Parliament, together with a copy of any report made by the auditors on the accounts,” the Act says.

Despite such stipulations, the last COB financial report to be tabled in the House of Assembly was a financial statement dated June 30, 2008, according to a parliamentary clerk. The financial statement was tabled in 2010.

Asked why the college has been behind in its audits, Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald said yesterday: “I have no idea.”

The Tribune understands that consultants from the CDB are working with COB as it seeks to meet the conditions necessary to begin drawing money from the loan. However, some observers fear that the delay in using the funds is disrupting COB’s timeline as it seeks to transition to a university. For them, the poor auditing practices reveal weak oversight and a lack of capacity for handling financial record-keeping demands.

Some members of the Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB) have called for COB’s finances to be forensically audited.

COB was initially scheduled to transition into a university in July. Since that target date was missed, officials have not given a new deadline.

A draft Bill of the University of Bahamas Act is expected to be reviewed by COB’s Council within the next week.

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday on the condition of anonymity, a top accountant said: “(The out of date audits) means COB can’t be managed because their records aren’t up to date. How is their cash management? How are they managing their cash position? Are they doing bank reconciliation on a monthly basis? Who are they reporting to? What has the Council been doing for the last three years?”

The Christie administration moved a resolution to borrow the $16 million from the CDB in the House of Assembly last October. The interest rate on the agreement stood at 4.1 per cent. The investment is expected to cover land acquisition and external works.

Calls to COB president Dr Rodney Smith were not returned before press time yesterday.

TruePeople 9 years, 1 month ago

"It also puts the college in violation of the College of the Bahamas Act. The legislation says that COB’s accounts must be inspected by an auditor appointed by COB’s Council every year."

corruption like disease run thru erryting, all the school don't get left out. that 16$Mill was prob going into someone pocket anyway. They havn't done audit for 4 years... my lord. This is a country of teef for real. I gots to move to Jamaica soon

asiseeit 9 years, 1 month ago

Hey, hey, Bahamians are entitled to steal from government, it is our god given right! Just ask the PLP.

CatIslandBoy 9 years, 1 month ago

Can't we do anything right in this country? For God sakes, I am sick and tired of the fact that nothing seems to get done in a timely manner with this government. My God, enough already!

CatIslandBoy 9 years, 1 month ago

In January of last year, to much fanfare, Mr. Sears announced the appointment of Mr. Dural Thompson as Chief Internal Auditor at COB. This was supposed to help bring audited financial statements up to date as the college prepared for transition to University Status. What has the Chief Internal Auditor and his staff been doing for the past year and a half? In many other countries, he would definitely be relieved of his job for non-performance.

Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 1 month ago

Can you imagine holding a degree of any kind from COB? In the same way the Council and Administrators of COB have no accountability and/or responsibility for COB's financial reporting requirements, you can be rest assured that its educators have little to no accountability and/or responsibility for the quality of its educational/degree programmes. It's perhaps most fitting that COB's business school is named after Franky Wilson aka Snake and that the Dean of its business school is (was?) Remelda Moxey. Alfred Sears certainly did nothing to improve things and Rodney Smith is grossly over paid in terms of his worth to COB. In recent years COB has been flushed down the proverbial toilet by the poor calibre of its Council members and administrators, leaving graduates from recent years with costly degrees that they may as well use to wipe their cans with. The local private/business community and the more reputable colleges and universities abroad all know only too well that COB graduates in recent times have been seriously short changed in the quality of their education. It must be so embarrassing to be among the older alumni of COB! Meanwhile Perry Christie clearly believes COB's students need only learn his junkanoo shuffle and how to be courteous to his new Chinese friends in order to be prepared for the dismal course ahead that he has charted for them in life. How very sad.

CatIslandBoy 9 years, 1 month ago

Wow! Very well said

VDSheep 9 years, 1 month ago

One would expect COB to have a credible accounting class [sic.] That is another example why COB ought to stay a college and the university ought to be on another island - other than New Providence!

DillyTree 9 years, 1 month ago

And they want to make this a University? Good Lord, can we just get the damn basics right first? What a disgrace this little banana republic has become.

sheeprunner12 9 years, 1 month ago

We must assume that Dillytree, Mudda and Catboy did not attend COB ......... but for those who have graduated from COB, we know the value of the degree that we worked hard to achieve. ....... please do not discredit a great national institution. Lest we forget that many Bahamians go to far inferior schools (than COB) in the USA and believe that they have achieved the world!!!!!!! .............. and that there are many MPs sitting now and prior to the last election that never declared their assets as they should every year ........... what is worst?????????

Reality_Check 9 years, 1 month ago

Mudda was comparing COB to the more reputable colleges and universities abroad. You seem happy to compare COB to inferior schools in the U.S. This might explain why so many COB students and graduates are quite content to sit on their laurels rather than do something about the serious decline in COB's reputation both here and abroad. COB alumni and students should be fiercely agitating en masse for much needed changes in personnel at the highest levels of COB. How is it Christie can get his new Chinese friends to plough enormous sums of money into a national stadium, resort developments, etc., but only throw a few pennies the way of COB?

Frosty 9 years, 1 month ago

When funding via subsidiaries was cut the students under the helm of the Student Union raised hell. When fees were increased despite no improvement being to made the campuses students did the same. Both times the government and the College Council acknowledged the fierce lashback and gave no qualms about ignoring them anyway. What else can the students do, refuse to pay for another semester until the problems are properly addressed? Most realize that that will do nothing except prolong their enrollment. The assistant lecturers to Professors in most regards are not bad, hell if COB administration listened to its Accounting professors they wouldn't be in this mess.

As far as resting on their laurels that happens always happens sometimes at no fault of the students themselves. A fair amount of students take their COB bachelors try to find jobs here realize they can't and find one more easily abroad (thus increasing the noticeable and prolific brain drain in the country). A similar amount also take their Bachelors and turn it into Masters at top notch universities (I myself am currently sorting out the final details of my masters program at Sogang University)

The point i am trying to make is that though COB administration is a hot mess the college continues to spread internationally through partnerships with other universities. The students are far from content but they still seize the oppurtunity at a tertiary education within their financial grasp. Christie has already shown stopping that brain drain and educating Bahamians was not on his priority list when the subsidiary was allowed to be cut.

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