Times Of Swaziland: ‘GOVT TO CONTINUE SEIZING CORRUPTION PROCEEDS’

‘GOVT TO CONTINUE SEIZING CORRUPTION PROCEEDS’
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 BY KWANELE DHLADHLA  on 08/11/2019 00:44:00


MBABANE – “Government is unyielding in its endeavour to ensure that all
proceeds of corruption, and any other criminal activity, are traced and
forfeited to the State”.
This statement was enunciated by Prime Minister (PM) Mandvulo Dlamini during the
inaugural procurement indaba gala dinner convened at the Royal Swazi Spa on
Wednesday. The PM pointed out that one of the major challenges of government
procurement was its uncanny ability to inadvertently invite corruption.
Dlamini said he hoped that deliberations during the procurement indaba had
identified all the gaps that unfavourably project procurement as the perfect
platform for inducing bribes or inflating prices, and all forms of corruption.
“We cannot normalise such a scenario, and government is determined to root out
corruption with zero tolerance. And to achieve that, both the public and private
sector have an ethical role to play,” said Dlamini.
The PM said government was aware that, if properly carried out, public
procurement could be used as a tool to deter corruption.
Dlamini challenged the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA),
which spearheaded the indaba, to ensure that public procurement follows all the
necessary regulations and laws.
The PM said the role of public procurement regulations as an enhancer, and not a
deterrent of public procurement, could not be over emphasised.
Dlamini added that government was currently looking at several procurement
interventions, namely; using procurement as a tool for rationalising government
expenditure, using the Private Public Partnership (PPP) model as an alternative
model of financing government projects, and using procurement as a mitigating
tool for corruption.
Advised
ESPPRA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Madoda Mngomezulu advised government to
utilise public procurement regulatory findings to determine policy direction
with a view to make all procurement processes transparent.
“As a country, we should consider using public procurement to revive dormant
or underperforming sectors of the economy,” advised Mngomezulu.
It should be mentioned that the Eswatini public sector in the year 2017/2018
spent about E14 billion which accounted for 22 per cent of the Gross Domestic
Product to procure goods, works and services.
Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg in his opening remarks during the inaugural
procurement indaba said this should make it automatic, given the kingdom’s
developmental approach and the transformational pieces of legislation and
policies, that Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises would thrive.
Rijkenberg said the marginalised majority of Swati people should be drawn into
the mainstream economy which would see more people getting out of poverty.