THE Office of the Auditor General has engaged an international accounting firm to audit the estimated $2.5 billion Pacific Games hosted in Honiara in 2023.
Auditor General David Dennis confirmed to Solomon Star that his office has engaged KPMG as contract auditors to undertake a financial statement audit and a special audit of the Pacific Games 2023.
He said these audits are still ongoing.
KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a British multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC.
The firm is a multinational and operates worldwide. Headquartered in London, England, KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 273,424 employees.
It has three lines of services: financial audit, tax, and advisory.
Unlike the auditing of the COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) that revealed major fraud risk, poor to non-existent administrative controls and almost zero transparency in the disbursement of $309 million in government funds.
The public is expecting more unusual findings from the audit of the 2023 Pacific Games disbursement of funding.
Prior to the Games, the Transparency Solomon Islands (TSI) has urged the Games Organising Committee (GOC) and the National Hosting Authourity (NHA) to adhere to the procurement process and the rules provided under the PG 2023 Act 2017 and the Public Financial Management Act.
TSI made the call following the leakage of the $6.4 million contract that NHA/GOC awarded to Empire Barbershop to provide toilet paper for the Sol2023 Pacific Games.
The Empire Barbershop contract falls under an agreement signed between NHA/GOC and the EMPIRE Barbershop and Sullivans (SI) Limited.
“The agreement between NHA/GOC and the EMPIRE Barbershop and Sullivans (SI) Limited is a broad-day light way of siphoning of money, non-transparent, fishy and unaccountable. It shows an uncaring and reckless Executive Government that prioritises toilet paper over basic medical drugs for its people,” TSI said in a statement.
Apart from that, International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff has also recommended that an audit of expenditures related to the Pacific Games are published after it has concluded.
They made the recommendation in 2023, following their mission to Honiara to urge the government to ensure spending on Pacific Games and the delayed general election are “well controlled to minimise the crowding out of other essential spending”.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
Solomon Star, Honiara
