By STEVEN ZANDE

.Napsa

THE latest Auditor General’s report on accounts of parastatal bodies and other statutory institutions has revealed that the National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA) is owed K3 billion by 2,733 non-compliant employers.
The report, which covers the financial years December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2016, has revealed other irregularities at NAPSA, including failure to secure repayments of K503,552 which was lent out to Labour Ministry officials for local and foreign travel expenses in 2015.
The Auditor General said NAPSA was owed different amounts by various public and private employers in terms of contributions to the scheme, all amounting to K3,157,012,588.
“As of May 31, 2017 the Authority was owed K3,157,012,588 in principal and penalty by 2,733 non-compliant employers.
“Included in the 2,733 defaulting employers were 114 employers owing K675,962,513 who had been in default for periods in excess of 10 years while K21,052,965 owed by firms which are now defunct,” read the report.
In response, management said NAPSA was pursuing employers through court actions and processing debt swap agreements with local authorities to acquire strategic land using the outstanding contribution debt.
NAPSA in October 2015 lent out K503,552 to the Ministry of Labour which went towards travel expenses for local and foreign trips which had, by September 30, 2017 had not been reimbursed.
The Authority has also been cited for frequent board dissolutions and reappointments, a trend which if allowed could lead to inconsistency in planning and organisational strategy implementation.
Further, contrary to the Board of Trustees’ 2015 resolution, NAPSA had by November 16 last year failed to retrieve two tablets from two members of a dissolved Board. The gadgets are valued at K9,575.
The report said contrary to the NAPSA Act of 2000, of the 20,330 employees engaged after enforcement of the Act 19, 560 were contributing to the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) and 670 the Local Authority Superannuation Fund (LASF).
During the period under review, NAPSA further lost K775,000 which arose from changes in hotel management operators.