Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has expressed grave concern about what appears as double payments to civil servants who were engaged by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) during the 2023 General Elections.
The Auditor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula, disclosed that some of the implicated civil servants received over E200,000 after successfully submitting their claims.
Matsebula reported that the commission made multiple payments of wages to pensionable government employees and toEBC staff without the necessary supporting documents such as appointment letters and authorities for overtime, during the financial year ended March 2024.
In response, the EBC Head of Secretariat, Khombisile Dlamini, clarified that there had not been any double payments according to their accounting records.
“The employees were simply being paid for the service they rendered. No officer claimed twice, we simply paid a flat rate of E400 for each officer per day.
The staff were simply being paid for services they rendered, period,” Dlamini emphasised.
Gege MP Magesi Dlamini said, “It would be better for the EBC to hire the unemployed youth of Eswatini instead of the unemployed youth.
Who then plays their role at the different government departments where they are permanently hired.”
The PAC Vice-Chairperson, Manzi Zwane, said it was worrying that the people who normally get paid late by the EBC were unemployed, especially the youth.
“Going forward, we must hire the unemployed Emaswati,” Zwane recommended.
EBC Head of Secretariat Khombsile Dlamini during the appearance before the Public Accounts Committee.
However, the EBC noted that unemployed people tend not to be accountable at times, especially because they were aware that they would be working for a short period.
“The majority whom we hired during the elections were unemployed youth. We engaged civil servants for the roles that required specialised skills such as accountants and auditors,” she said.
The AG also raised a query that there had been unaccounted salaries amounting to E1.2 million. The EBC objected to this audit query and informed PAC that they submitted the required documentation.
However, the AG said,” The amount reflecting here was reduced after the documentation was presented to auditors.
However, they need to provide supporting documentation for the transactions that have been flagged by the AG in this instance.”
The EBC insisted that all government employees, including EBC officials who were engaged during elections, were compensated for overtime using a flat rate.
“This is because they are expected to work every day and for extended hours. To compensate them cost-effectively, a flat rate was sought and granted by the Cabinet.
All officers were required to claim for each stage of the electoral process. As such, no officer enjoyed double payment,” added EBC.
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