Commission looking into BDO report is still in force - Akbar

Fijian Education Minister, Rosy Akbar says the three member commission which is looking into issues raised in the BDO report following the allegations raised by USP Vice Chancellor, Pal Ahluwalia last year, is still in force.

Akbar says the Commission is still investigating the report.

Meanwhile, USP Pro-Chancellor, Winston Thompson had stressed that the 3 member commission that was appointed to look into issues raised in the BDO report following the allegations raised by Vice Chancellor Ahluwalia last year, are still working on tightening up governance issues at the university.

Thompson says when the BDO report was tabled to the USP Council last year, it had made various decisions which included the setting up of a committee of 3 Ministers which was tasked to follow up on the BDO report particularly as it related to governance weaknesses within USP.

He says the Committee of 3 Ministers appointed a Commission of 3 who are still working on going through governance instruments, policies and procedures to try to tighten up where it seemed that they were weak.

The Committee consists of Professor Satish Chand, Professor Jenni Lightowers and Graeme McNally.

Thompson says he has been informed that the BDO report has been leaked when it should have been kept confidential.

The BDO report arose from the allegations of misconduct that USP Vice-Chancellor Ahluwalia had made against the previous management team.

Thompson says the allegations were considered serious but it was incomplete and more information was needed to establish whether a decision was needed to be made by the Executive Committee.

Thompson says the allegations were submitted by Ahluwalia to the Executive Committee in March.

He adds the committee decided then to ask the University’s Director of Audit, Assurance and Compliance to investigate and get information from those who were being accused in the document and come back to the committee in the next meeting to give a report.

Thompson says in the next meeting the Director said that she decided to hand this to FICAC.

He says he was informed in May that the report was on Facebook.

Thompson says one week later when the Council met in Vanuatu and because of the publicity, the Council was alarmed and so they then were promoted into setting up a special investigation and from which the BDO investigation took place.

The committee of 3 ministers comprising of Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa Fiame Naomi Mata'afa (Chairperson), Prime Minister of Cook Islands Henry Puna and Fijian Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum had resolved towards the end of last year that a Summary of the Independent Investigation Report by BDO Auckland should be made publicly available.

BBDO report into USP that is being looked at by the 3 member commission

The report states that the investigation was carried out on an evidential basis, with allegations or assertions being traced through to documentary evidence. However, due to the level and/or quality of documentation retained by the USP, this wasn’t always possible. As a result, BDO was not able to substantiate a number of the allegations.

BDO’s view was that a majority of the decisions investigated were made within the boundaries of the Vice Chancellor’s Ordinance. However, it said when critically analysed, the rationale for many of the decisions taken is unclear.

BDO also stated that it was of the view that further investigation is required and a number of policies and ordinances require significant alignment and stronger oversight from the USP’s Executive Committee and Council.

The independent investigation report also noted that similar themes and control weaknesses were identified by the USP’s internal audit service provider over the past few years. It states that these Human Resources and payroll concerns were reported in accordance with USP’s standard internal audit reporting process across three reports.

BDO Auckland says the conclusions within these reports point clearly to a need for greater oversight, control and management of the HR and payroll functions at the USP.

It also says that the outcomes of the BDO investigation suggest that the recommendations raised have only been partially implemented, or in some cases, not at all.

BDO Auckland also said that while the allegations highlighted in the paper have arisen in an unfortunate manner, they have raised serious concerns that require attention and action.

It said that these provide USP with an opportunity to reflect and take corrective action that will ultimately improve the culture and quality of education and research at USP.

The investigation focused on allegations made by Vice Chancellor Ahluwalia in 2019.

BDO says those allegations primarily related to human resource and remuneration decisions that were made by the former Vice Chancellor and the senior management team of the USP.

It said in it’s introduction, objective and scope that the paper put forward 26 allegations of mismanagement by the former Vice Chancellor of the USP who held office from 2008 to 2018. BDO says to a lesser extent, the paper implicated other members of the USP’s senior management team as either beneficiaries, or decision makers.

BDO stated that it is of the view that oversight, governance, and control of remuneration is a key weakness across the USP. It said that this was the key theme throughout the investigation as many of the matters raised in the paper, or the likely motivations behind those matters, relate to remuneration.

It said that the USP’s current policy framework, while extensive, is overly complex, fragmented, outdated, and generally isn’t fit-for-purpose. The report said that as a result, four remuneration mechanisms have collectively been exploited and have led to significant cash leakage across the USP over a number of years. These mechanisms are inducement allowances, responsibility and acting allowances, bonuses and consultancy agreements. BDO has also recommended a comprehensive structural review of the USP’s human resources function. The review should focus on building institutional knowledge to drive consistent, efficient policy applications and behaviour. BDO has also recommended an urgent review of the USP’s core human resources policies, procedures, and forms.

The focus of this review should be on simplifying policies to drive more efficient, transparent, and equitable behaviour.

There are currently three ordinances, 58 policies, four procedures, and 38 forms stored in the human resources section of the USP Policy Library.

The BDO report also noted that USP has a significant reliance on employees who have reached retirement age.

BDO noted that numerous senior academic and professional positions are held by staff members who have reached retirement age.

It said that in itself, this is not an issue, however, BDO also noted that many of these individuals had been appointed in those roles numerous times after reaching retirement age.

It said this would suggest a lack of succession planning across these senior roles.