Africa-Press – Eswatini. Sizakele Dlamini,the Principal Secretary(PS) in the Ministry of Finance allegedly colluded with Directors of a company known as African Drums Events Management(Pty)Ltd, to defraud the State over R15million through the payment of alleged fraudulent invoices.
This is contained in a bundle of documents sourced from the Anti Corruption Commission(ACC) after some investigators of the Commission held a virtual meeting with this investigative journalist on Sunday evening,with an intention to spill the beans on what was happening within the ACC.
The documents further suggest that, the ACC tried to apply for warrants of arrest against the PS in the Ministry of Finance who was Accused number three(3),African Drums Events Management(Pty) Ltd(Accused number one(1) and it’s Director Marina Henwood(Accused number two(2) among others.
The company allegedly defrauded Government after providing decoration and other services to the Office of the Prime Minister(PM) on or around 31st October 2019.
But the warrants of arrest were allegedly blocked and the matter was sabotaged amid bribery allegations within the now troubled Anti Corruption Commission(ACC).
The investigators told this journalist that, before applying for the warrants of arrest and after gathering the information,they even approached Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg who motivated them to pursue the case and fight corruption.
“We even approached Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg as the matter was within his Ministry and presented the information, he motivated us to work on the case and fight corruption as it was clear that there was corruption in the payment of the fraudulent invoices. But, the Directors of the company approached Commissioner Dan Dlamini and Jabu Phakathi, we were then told to drop the case”, said one of the investigators.
Jabu Phakathi,the Spokesperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission(ACC) declined to comment about the matter.
Reached for comments on Monday morning, eSwatini highly regarded human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi said, the Anti Corruption Commission(ACC) was established with a specific mandate to fight corruption and if failed to fulfill that mandate, then it “is as good as non-existent”.
The lawyer further said, it’s unfortunate to learn that investigators of the ACC are accepting bribes adding that, investigators of such institutions must be above reproach.
“The ACC must be independent just like the Judiciary and Human Rights Commission because it was established for a specific goal,to fight and combat corruption. If the ACC cannot discharge that mandate, that would mean it as good as non-existent. It’s a pity that allegations suggesting that, investigators of the ACC are taking bribes because we expect that the organization should be dominated by people whose integrity is above board and with dignity. It defeats the whole purpose of the prevention of crime act if the people who work for the ACC are bribe-able”, said the human rights lawyer.
A questionnaire was sent to Sizakele Dlamini, the Principal Secretary(PS) in the Ministry of Finance,however, she had not responded at the time of compiling this report and, efforts to reach the Directors of African Drums Events Management proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
But Sivumelwano Nyembe,the Spokesperson of the pro-democracy MultiStakeholder Forum(MSF) said, apart from the bribery allegations, it was hard for the ACC to be fully operational because the law “is applied selectively” in the country.
“Apart from the bribery allegations involving investigators of the Anti Corruption Commission(ACC), we need to understand that, it’s hard for the whole institution to be fully operational because the law is applied selectively in the country”, said the MSF Spokesperson.
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