Africa-Press – Eswatini. The cat is out of the bag. Now, we know what was in “that” bag.
It didn’t contain cabbages. There was a cat in that bag. Therefore, let us deal with the issue. Siphiwe Dlamini, the Principal Planning Officer in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, has shown emaSwati the path to a liberal economy. In her presentation during an induction conference for the 12th Parliament on Thursday, she explained how government was mismanaging the economy.
Who can say she’s lying? The planning officer said there was no monitoring mechanism for the country’s resources. She also pointed out that transforming the lives of emaSwati would remain a dream in the pipeline because government was mismanaging the economy. She mentioned corruption and uncontrolled spending as some of the negatives derailing progress and hampering development in Eswatini. That was not just a mere presentation but it struck me as a well prepared or crafted thesis of our time. Learn from it and live a prosperous life. Scoff at it and die.
There is no denying that government’s spending is a national worry. It’s worrying that Eswatini still have a large number of people living below the poverty line. The officer of the government made mention of the number of ministries if we needed all of them. Again, she was spot on.
She was guided by Section 63 (g) of the Constitution which reads: “the exercise and enjoyment of rights and freedoms is inseparable from the performance of duties and obligations, and accordingly, it shall be the duty of every citizen to protect and preserve public property and to combat misuse and waste of public funds and property.”
In a small country like Eswatini, His Majesty the King needs a prime minister and three ministers. I have often said that the easiest job on planet earth is that of a minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini. As long as you have a suit, you can be a minister. This is because your job is to attend workshops, drink still water, pose for the camera and interfere a little bit with the duties of the principal secretary. When you want to excel as a minister, you must tour projects and make a speech. That’s all. Why then do we need 20 or 19 ministries? With the availability of the Eswatini National Housing Board and Land Management Board, why then do we keep the wasteful Ministry of Housing and Urban Development?
Since the country has public enterprises such as the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE), NAMboard, NMC, Eswatini Sugar Association, Eswatini Cane Growers Association and many others, do we need the Ministry of Agriculture? We may only need the office of the secretary to agriculture, with a manageable staff. It can only be established to issue licences and permits. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy is also redundant since the country has Minerals Management Board, Geological Survey and Mines, Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority and two main public enterprises, Eswatini Electricity Company and Eswatini Water Services Corporation.
The chief executive officers and heads of departments can report directly to Parliament. If we keep the offices of regional administrators and that of the deputy prime minister, it means the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development is redundant as it comes. Eswatini must not degrade the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. This is the office within that of the Prime Minister which is responsible for the political affairs of the country.
Under normal circumstances, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for the political system and good governance of the country.
It advises the King and prime minister on political trends and narratives. It is supposed to work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Affairs.
What’s the essentiality of a Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs when we have the Eswatini Tourism Authority and Eswatini Environment Authority (ETA)? These are fully fledged government companies that can report directly to Parliament in time of need. A fully capacitated Civil Service Commission (CSC) can perform the duties of the Ministry of Public Service. This ministry is useless because we can’t afford as emaSwati to create a ministry specifically for public servants. It means we also need to have a Ministry of Private Servants.
We have the Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council which regulates sporting activities in the country. With enough funding, the Council, as a supreme governing body for sports in Eswatini, can take full charge of all sporting activities through financing and evaluation and monitoring.
The Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council is a Category A Public Enterprise mandated to regulate and promote sports development and sports for positive social change. Its mandate is an endeavour to contribute to national development goals in line with the Eswatini Development Index.
Government set up the Eswatini National Youth Council (ENYC). It is the coordinating body for all youth programmes mandated by the government.
In the current financial year, the Sports Council received E19 million. This is an insult to the sporting fraternity. EmaSwati in leadership conduct themselves as if they don’t regard the necessity of sports and societal impacts. Therefore, one wonders why we keep the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs.
Money that is channelled to this ministry should be funding the Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council and Eswatini National Youth Council.
Government set up the judiciary, which has the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). There is also the useful office of the Attorney General (AG).
Law drafters are under the AG office. The availability of all these structures renders the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs irrelevant. A department of justice with a manageable staff can be set up for coordination purposes.
This then brings us to the point that the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs is a fattening ranch. However, it is boringly normal in Eswatini.
I can only advise government to strengthen the Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration in accordance with Section 58 (3) of the Constitution. “The State shall cultivate among all the people of Swaziland through various measures including civic education respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms and the dignity of the human person,” reads Section 58 (3) of the Constitution.
It must be said that the country needs a fully fledged Law Review Commission, which can serve as an independent State agency. Government has a fully fledged Department of Labour. On the other hand, it has kept the useless Ministry of Labour and Social Security.At a good salary, workaholic Manqoba Khumalo should be heading an adequately capacitated Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA), not the redundant Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade. He has an eye for new investments. The ministry must be abolished in favour of a manageable department of commerce and trade. This is for coordination purposes. It’s a pity that government has lots of departments that do not correspond to contemporary governance.
Poor spending
Government’s poor spending was reported to the King during the People’s Parliament. Lobahlophe Hlophe raised concerns that some car rental companies were ripping off the nation. Hlophe said government was spending millions of Emalangeni on renting cars from some companies. She said the new prime minister should rather buy enough vehicles for government as opposed to renting the vehicles. “Stop renting the cars from these companies. They release the vehicles to government at a high cost,” she said.
Some government ministries and departments, mainly the security forces are clients for car rentals. The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) also rented about 700 cars for the general election for the 12th Parliament. The Times of Eswatini reported that government paid for each car a sum of E3 500 per day. If such figures are anything to go by, it meant the 700 vehicles cost the taxpayer E2.450 million per day. After the general elections, it was reported that some of the vehicles had not been returned to the rental company. Why? These vehicles were retained and used by the EBC in all the stages of the elections, which started with voter registration.
In 2009, Ntuthuko Dlamini, the then Minister of Public Works and Transport, told Senate that government spent E75 million on renting vehicles.
The vehicles, most of which had South African registration plates, were hired on behalf of government departments by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport through the Central Transport Administration (CTA). Dlamini informed Senate that the actual expenditure for renting cars was E75 512 746.35. This covered a five-year period. It meant government spent E15 million per year.
In 2022, one of the car rental services took the Government of Eswatini to the High Court where it demanded payment of E5 066 963.65. It had offered vehicles to government for rental. The cars included Toyota Fortuner, Prado SUVs eight-seater kombi, single and double cab vans with canopy, Mercedes Benz C Class, BMW 3 and 7 Series, to mention a few. Some of the owing departments, according to documents annexed to the court papers, were the King’s Office, Eswatini Government and Correctional Services.
In its particulars of claim, the company submitted that it was awarded a tender on July 9, 2019 for hire of vehicles by Eswatini Government, through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. Paying ghost employees and holidaying emaSwati who form part of the royal delegations are some of the expenditures that we have to eliminate as a country. Foreign trips have enriched certain people who are determined to fight for this privilege, I know. This is because it is now a necessity to them. After all, that is how they make money. They are robbing the taxpayer because they can’t even compile a two-paragraph report on the seminars and conferences that the Head of State and others attend.
Source: times
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