E400 million donation a hoax?

MBABANE –Will this county ever receive the promised E400 million donation from the, as yet, unknown donors in the King’s jet saga or was the king, the Finance minister and the Swazi nation been taken for a ride?

This is the question that begins to emerge as the man who acts as the chief negotiator for the Swaziland government, Professor Frans Whelpton, has come out to declare that he has not yet received any cent of the money and also does not know where the money will come from. He also does not know who the donors are.
It has also emerged that the funds are no longer coming from Canada as Whelpton had been made to believe, but are now said to be coming from Germany.

The country was initially promised the return of E28 million that government paid as down payment for the botched Bombardier Global Express 9909 deal. The country was then promised a donation of E100 million to assist in its social upliftment efforts. The figure was later raised to E400 million.

Professor Frans Whelpton, who assisted government in efforts to recover the E28 million down payment, continues to be a link between the government and George Stander, the director of DAFIN Asset Finance Limited, wants an assurance that everything about the money is done above board. The professor was appointed the ‘protector’ of the funds by the donors whose identity is yet to be established.

Government engaged DAFIN Finance Limited when purchasing the plane.
Correspondences between the professor and Stander indicate that he (professor) had been insisting on knowing where the funds were kept and who the donors were.

In an interview last week, Whelpton said he heard that some were beginning to doubt the existence of the funds and decided to reveal all his frustrations relating to the matter so that people could judge his actions fairly. He emphasised that his status as a law professor and his reputation in society in general came first, adding that he would do anything to protect social standing by doing everything above board.

The professor, who was prepared to reveal all, emphasised that he did not want his good name and the confidence the king and the Swazi people have in him tainted by unavailability of the promised donor funds and, therefore, was pushing Stander to come out clean where the money and the donors were.

Whelpton said he was made to believe that the money was coming from Bombardier in Canada, who on April 25, 2005, showed willingness to make available a special scholarship fund of  US$100 000 to Swazi students wishing to pursue studies in Canada until recently.

An excerpt of a letter from Bombardier’s Vice President of Legal Services Francois Quellette reads: “I have the honour to announce to you that Bombardier would be willing to provide a special scholarship fund of $100 000 which will be designed to assist Swaziland ‘s students who would like to pursue university studies in Canada.”