Ester Mbathera
A customer received N$100 000 airtime fraudulently from an employee of the national telecommunications operator, the Telecom leaked document reveals.
The company’s internal risk audit, which examined the top 100 transactions, revealed these findings.
The national telecommunications operation was hacked of 493 000 documents valued at N$5,4 billion (U$300 million).
The head of internal audit and risk management, Kgomotso Hochobeb, made Telecom chief executive officer (CEO) Stanley Shanapinda aware of these fraudulent discrepancies.
The N$100 000 airtime transaction could not be explained when it was picked up.
“A balance of N$100 000.00 was credited to a customer’s account on 24 December 2019. After several queries, the agent who passed the adjustment could not figure out why the adjustment was done,” the internal report said.
On another number, airtime worth over N$64 000 was credited.
“A total of N$64 761.92 was found on 085* was debited to the customer’s account on 9/06/2021,” the report revealed.
These mistakes were made by one employee who said they fixed the error when it was picked up.
“The user who passed all the top 100 adjustments confirmed that the selected 100 adjustments were passed by mistake and were reversed instantly,” the report said.
The internal audit department stated the fraudulent activities were a result of too many employees having access to the system.
“Too many individuals with access to passing manual adjustments with no proper control,” the report reveals.
The audit warned that Telecom employees would use their access to give their friends airtime.
“System users might credit their friends fraudulently and no one will pick up,” the department advised Shanapinda.
At the time, at least 150 employees and suppliers had access to the system to make airtime and other adjustments.
“Seeing that there are about 150 users from different departments, including suppliers, who have access to doing manual adjustments, there is potential for unnoticed fraud,” the audit found.
The audit team recommended that only a limited number of employees should be approved to pass manual adjustments.
The justification and reconciliation for these activities could not be found.
“A report should be generated on a daily basis that will show all adjustments passed, and verification on the authenticity of the adjustment should be done by the supervisor,” they recommended.
LOSS-MAKING COMPANY
The 100 adjustments flagged by the audit team cost Telecom N$69,3 million.
This contributes to the deficit that the company has been making over the years.
In the current financial year, Telecom’s losses are due to its outdated billing system and its N$1.5 billion debt book.
The company is expected to lose N$43.6 million in the current financial year.
However, with the current hacking by Hunters International, the damages are expected to increase this number.
The leaked documents included the company’s revised budget for 2024.
The chief financial officer, Sharidene Kisting, stated in the budget that Telecom’s future is uncertain.
“It is thus critical that these investments realise the future viability and sustainability is a concern,” the budget states.
Kisting said Telecom Namibia needs to improve its revenue generation because operational costs keep increasing.
This is while Shanapinda, for his performance appraisal, scored four for sustainability and has been described as a forward thinker who plans ahead.
“Output of the headcount committee will not sustain the company in the long run; we need to capacitate the company to maximise ownership at operational levels,” the appraisal states.
REVENUE PLANS
Telecom’s capital projects with government offices, ministries and agencies have brought in N$31,3 million.
These projects include the Namibian Police for different locations (N$11,6 million, the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs for structured cabling (N$7,2 million), the Office of the President for IT infrastructure (N$4 million), the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation for video conference embassies (N$3,8 million), the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (N$ 822 815), Kavango West Regional Council (N$942 868), Ministry of Sports, Youth and National Service (N$346 930), and Namibia Revenue Agency (N$1,2 million).
In its 2023 commercial analysis report, Telecom identified its network weaknesses.
“Telecom Namibia network failures and breakdowns contributed to customer churn; longer time fault repairs led to a decline of customers in fixed environments,” the commercial report stated.
Last year, the operator’s disconnections exceeded their new subscriptions.
In April 2034, the company disconnected 1.2 million accounts while only 358 869 new customers signed up.
“Competitors trying their best to win customers from TN, providing cheaper prices in some of our product/service categories,” the commercial report flagged.
