Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 5, 1 Mei 2019 — Where is the promised audit for fraud, waste and abuse? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Where is the promised audit for fraud, waste and abuse?

t's been over two years since the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees unanimously approved an independent audit of OHA and its limited liability companies for fraud, waste and abuse. $500,000 was appropriated and a top national Ananeial services firm was engaged. To date, not even a progress report has been provided to the public despite ample time and resources having been dedicated to complete the task. And now the OHA Trustees have voted 8 to 1 (I was the lone NO vote)

to stretch the audit's eomplehon date to December 2019. That will be almost three years since the audit was approved, and will bypass the ending of the CEO's current eontract. What's going on? Excuses, Excuses... One excuse given for extending the deadline for the audit is that OHA's time and resources were constrained by events like the state Auditor's report released in February 2018, the Attorney General's investigation into OHA, and the November 2018 eleehon. But the fact is, an organization the size of OHA has the resources to comply with the audit. It is my opinion that the Board of Trustees failed to eompel the organization to do so. Another excuse is that there's no need for this audit, due to the many other audits OHA undergoes on a regular basis. However, the independent audit was created to dig deeper than these routine audits, to ferret out fraud, waste and abuse in OHA's and the LLCs' procurement practices and contracts. No other audit of OHA is as comprehensive as the independent audit was designed to be, not even that of the State Auditor. A third excuse for the delay is obstacles in auditing the OHA-owned LLCs, despite the fact that the OHA Board ordered the LLCs to comply. The problem? One ean only guess, as a eloak of secrecy has covered any deliberation on this matter.

Cloud of Goncern Whatever the reason for the lelay, OHA's failure to complete :he independent audit has generited a cloud of eoneem. The state 4ttomey General has been investiiating OHA, and state lawmakers iave introduced resolutions and attached language to OHA's own proposed budget and public lands trust legislation, requiring an audit of the OHA LLCs. Crisis of Credibility OHA has been mired in an ongoing crisis of credibility, and the delay in completing the audit ( l

is further damaging OHA's reputation. In 2015, OHA commissioned a scientific survey conducted by SMS Research. Among those surveyed, OHA ranked least favorable among Hawaiian-serving institutions. Perceptions of poor management and failure to represent the Hawaiian people effectively were the top rationales for the low ranking. Action by OHA Trustees is Needed The expiration of the current CEO's conhact in July will present an opportunity Tmstees must take seriously. Tmstees must perform their due diligence to select a CEO candidate eminently eapahle of restoring OHA's credibility. This person must be qualified and motivated to guarantee the completion of the audit without interference or further delay. Trustees must also assert the polkieal courage amongst themselves to complete the independent audit, and declare that "the buck stops here," Doing so is the only way to get an accurate and complete picture of the agency's Ananeial condition. And that is essential to bettering the conditions of OHA's beneficiaries, our ultimate purpose. Finally, OHA must create a culture of transparency. The agency should weleome the scmtiny of a thorough review, rather than delay it. And all beneficiaries should be watching closely to help ensure the audit is not delayed again or hindered by weak excuses. Toward this end, E Hana Kākou!/Let's WorkTogether! ■

Keli'i j Akina, Ph.D. 1 ( īrjstEB, At-largs