Brain drain hits Lupane University

Lupane State University (LSU) has faced significant staff turnover in the past two years due to the challenging economic environment, leading to a departure of professionals from the institution. This high staff turnover has resulted in understaffing in various departments, such as finance, internal audit, procurement, and stores. 
Consequently, the timely preparation of creditor and bank reconciliations, as outlined in the university's procedures manual, has been affected. In addition, these challenges have impacted the proper segregation of duties in the stores department, resulting in unexplained inventory discrepancies amounting to ZWL$1.99 million (compared to ZWL$240,354 in 2020).
Regarding the valuation of property, plant, and equipment, the financial statement as of December 31, 2021, was valued at ZWL$3,842,660,517 (compared to ZWL$1,652,626,425 in 2020) following a revaluation exercise conducted on August 17 of the same year. This revaluation was carried out in U.S. dollars and then translated at the auction rate into ZWL for financial reporting purposes. The Auditor-General expressed concerns about the appropriateness of using a foreign currency for the valuation and then applying a conversion rate to calculate ZWL property, plant, and equipment fair values. This approach may not accurately reflect current market dynamics, and the report highlighted potential misstatements in the proposed ZWL$ property values.

Furthermore, LSU has faced challenges with its Mopane management information system, used for student databases, resulting in inconsistent data for students and results listings. It is recommended that the university engage an IT expert to evaluate the Mopane system and address any anomalies.