PAC WANTS CABINET TO DEAL WITH PRINCE DAVID’S MATTER

MBABANE – There is clearly no end in sight in the matter involving former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Prince David, who allegedly owes government E427 800.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has since recommended that the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sotsha Dlamini should take up the matter with Minister Mgwagwa Gamedze, with a view that the matter is dealt with by Cabinet.   

The money was received by the prince as foreign service allowance, as he was as an envoy to Denmark yet he was also a minister at that time, during the period April 2004 to February 2005.    
The PS had already referred the matter to the Losses Committee to write off the debt, but the PAC recommended that he should immediately withdraw it from there and it should be addressed by Cabinet.
The auditor general (AG) had highlighted that the instrument appointing the former envoy as minister of justice and constitutional affairs in 2003 did not state that he was entitled to the foreign service allowance, unlike the gazette that appointed him as chairman of the Constitutional Drafting Committee.

The PAC said the matter had been outstanding since 2006 and it was obvious that the PS had failed to take the matter seriously.
The PAC further said it was unfortunate that the office of the attorney general was not giving the ministry the mandate to engage the services of a private attorney to deal with the matter.   
The PS was further fined E400 by the PAC for failing to disclose to the AG the committees’ resolution and instead he prayed for the matter to be referred to the Losses Committee.
In a similar matter, the PS was instructed to consult the AG on the issue of former Ambassador to Malaysia Mpumelelo Hlophe, who was paid E321 800 as foreign service allowance, while he had assumed the duties of PS in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Internal Cooperation.

The controlling officer had explained that the office of the AG was currently engaged in talks with the former ambassador to Malaysia and the ministry was making fresh calculations on the debt that he has to pay back because procedure dictated that, even though he was stationed in Swaziland, he was still considered as the ambassador to Malaysia since he had not formally bid farewell to the Malaysia head of state, which made him entitled to the foreign service allowance.

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