‘ROAD MAP FUTILE IF CORRUPTION NOT ADDRESSED’

MANZINI – The Eswatini Strategic Road map is a futile exercise if issues of corruption will be pushed under the carpet.
This is according to the public sector associations (PSAs).

This assertion by the PSAs follows the bombshell dropped by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday; wherein the chairperson, Member of Parliament (MP) Phila Buthelezi, said all sittings were suspended indefinitely.

This was before the PAC could engage in the Nhlanganio-Gege-Sicunusa Road, where the auditor general uncovered that over E500 million of taxpayers’ money went down the drain as the road was never completed.

There were concerns that there could be external forces at play with regards to the halting of the debate of the E500 million for the construction of the now controversial road.

It is suspected that one of the witnesses in the matter had gone to report to some of the country’s authorities that they had been asked to appear before the PAC.

There is a strong belief that some of the witnesses involved influential people, which led to the halting of the debate.
As such, the PAC chairperson decided to suspend all sittings indefinitely.

In reaction to the suspension of the PAC sittings, Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini said: “This is an unfortunate state of events as citizens of the same country are treated differently. It emphasises that justice could be for sale in the country.”

Corruption

Dlamini said such an act was counter to what the administration of Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini was seeking to address – corruption. He said if the auditor general had flagged elements of suspected corruption on the construction of the road, suspending sittings that sought uncover how the money was used was a sign of tolerance to corruption.

“This is a complete paradox to what government is saying and renders the strategic road map a futile exercise,” he noted.
A weakness in the country, which is noted in the Eswatini Strategic Road map, is poor public sector financial management leading to fiscal constraints. To this, Dlamini said it was the reason the country was in a fiscal abyss.

The unionist said everything would fall apart if some quarters within the populace were shielded from being accountable. He implored the legislature to treat all citizens of the country equally as they ought to be in the eyes of the law.

Also weighing in on the matter was Bheki Mamba, the president of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU). He said the mayhem brought to Parliament started when the road was to be constructed.
“From the beginning, the tender was controversial and a lot happened thereafter, which makes it a need for the public to know what really happened,” Mamba said.

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