Financial auditors, who were held accountable for massive overspending, have arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to look into this summer’s Francophone Games in Kinshasa, the event organisers announced on Monday.
After arriving in the country of central Africa on Sunday, the auditors from the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF), the French-speaking equivalent of the Commonwealth, will remain there for five days as part of a mission that was scheduled prior to the outcry over excessive spending.
The first Francophone Games were held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), from July 28 to August 6.
Most people thought the worldwide event in the poor nation of central Africa was a success.
However, DRC’s finance minister Nicolas Kazadi blamed the organisers for inadequate preparation and altering the budget without permission on Saturday, pointing to significant budget overruns.
According to Kazadi, the Games were supposed to cost $48 million, but they really ended up costing $324 million.
The director of the organising committee for the Games, Isidore Kwandja, commented on social media, saying that money had been handled responsibly and that the committee was “surprised” by the $324 million amount.
He claimed that an operating budget of 66.9 million euros ($70.7 million) had been approved by the IOF.
According to a statement issued by the IOF on Monday, auditors arrived in the DRC on Sunday.
