IT’S FINAL, PM TO GET HIS E3M ‘LIDLOKOLO’

LOBAMBA – There will be no E5.5 million retirement home for the prime minister. This was made final by Members of Parliament (MPs) yesterday when they passed the budget, less E2.5 million allocated for the construction of the Prime Minister (PM), Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini’s house.

The E5.5 million had been allocated for this financial year, but the legislators were adamant that they would be giving the premier E3 million instead.
This is despite the fact that the leader of Cabinet business fought tooth and nail last week as he justified why he deserved the home. He alleged that an area had already been blessed by His Majesty for the construction of the house and that none of the houses in that neighbourhood cost less than E10 million.

Chairperson of the PM’s portfolio committee, appointed MP Thuli Dladla, tried but in vain to convince the legislators that the E5.5 million should be allocated for the construction of the PM’s house.
She asked her colleagues to agree to setting aside the E2.5 million under Head 60 so that it would be used to finish off the house should there be shortages.

Dladla said according to the drawings already made and the quantity surveyors report, the total amount needed would be E5.5 million, including certain adjustment that may be needed.
However, the MPs were adamant that all they were allocating was E3 million, which would total E4.5 million when including the drawings which were allocated last financial year. Meanwhile, the 2018/19 budget now stands at a grand total of E20.4 billion. This follows a consensus reached by the House of Assembly yesterday after a five-hour debate on the issue.  Initially, the budget presented by the Minister of Finance Martin Dlamini was E21.6 billion, but after several changes and reallocations were made by the House yesterday, there was a difference of about E800 million.

Some of the money removed from the expenditure items included E5 million, which had been allocated to the Empowerment Fund.  A total of E7 million was temporarily placed at Head 60 which had initially been allocated to the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS) and the Swaziland Television Authority (STVA).  A further allocation of E2 million, which was for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), was also placed under Head 60 and the E2.5 million balance from the construction of the prime minister’s retirement home.
Other monies were reallocated to the Micro Projects Unit with other capital projects moved to the Rural Development Fund.  

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