The Norwegian government has suspended funding to the Zambia Volleyball Association (ZAVA) after a forensic audit of the association revealed gross incidences of finance mismanagement, corruption and other fraudulent activities.

And the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF), a subsidiary of the Norwegian Agency for Development Aid, has reported the association to local law enforcement agencies asking them to penalise the culprits.

A forensic audit of the association for the year ended 2018, conducted by NIF, revealed that payment vouchers amounting to more than K500, 000 could not be verified on the bank statement or corresponding supporting expense reports such as receipts, invoices, and acquittal sheets.

The document in detail, further revealed abuse of various other amounts of money including K24, 000, K10, 000, and K4000 among others.

“From the interview held with Kwasi Masole (3rd ZAVA vice president) over the overview of the system of the association, he submitted that the association had no system in place for raising payments for various activities for the association. It was found that cheques were raised first and funds incurred before any source documents could be raised or generated. This implies that, payments or cheques were being drawn without raising the payment vouchers which were raised in retrospect. Further, we found that all payment vouchers amounting to K483,505, made for various activities were not referenced with cheque numbers or details for which the payment was related to. Only the block amounts were written on the payment vouchers instead of the break down on various components of expenditure,” read the audit in part.

“In addition, we found that all the payment vouchers were only approved after the funds had already been withdrawn and spent. Further, payment vouchers and invoices were not annotated with the cheque numbers and the word ‘paid’. We found that funds amounting to K124,377 were alleged to have been advanced to the association. This amount could not be verified either on the bank statement or corresponding supporting expense reports such as receipts, invoices, acquittal sheets. Therefore, we could not ascertain as to whether the funds claimed to have been advanced to the association amounting to K124,377 were actually advanced and spent in accordance with the activities of the association.”

And NIF head international development Rune Arctander has reported ZAVA to the Zambia Police and the Anti-Corruption Commission asking them to penalise the culprits.

“On behalf of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) I am writing to officially report on activities conducted by the Zambia Volleyball Association. Attached to this letter we are providing you with a copy of The Forensic Audit of the Zambia Volleyball Association Report 2018. As a result of the severity of the findings within this report, NIF has no choice but to file a report to the Zambia Police Service.”

“NIF is presently working with a wide range of sport organizations in Zambia. Our partnerships with these organizations are based on both financial support and capacity development. The Zambia Volleyball Association receives funding from NIF and several other funders. This breach of trust, conduct and Zambia law has required us to stop supporting the Association as well as report our finding to the police. NIF receives its funds from the Norwegian Agency for Development Aid, and is obliged to report all incidents of financial mismanagement and corruption discovered within the organizations we are supporting to the national police of the county.”