What happened: During the audit process of four local partners in Mali it became clear that the auditor was lacking certain pieces of documentation. As a result, the audit opinions had reservations. The insufficient documentation concerned payments to various peace-committees and workshops.
What did we do: Norad was immediately alerted. The country office in Mali worked with each partner in order to obtain the missing documents. Some documentation was obtained, while other documentation was impossible to acquire or could not be approved.
NCA reported the findings to Norad and a total repayment of
NOK 206 529 was requested. The amount was subsequently repaid.
What did we learn: These cases made us aware of the missing communication between the auditor and the partners. In certain situations, the auditor did only a desk job, and the partners were not visited at all. The security situation in Mali is a part of the explanation for this, however, in the future NCA has insisted on a closer dialogue between the country office and the auditors. The NCA country office can accompany the auditor and can certainly be involved in obtaining needed documentation at an earlier stage in the audit process.