CONCERN AS DONOR ‘TAKES OVER’ MBABANE LIBRARY

MBABANE – There are concerns among employees of the Mbabane National Library following that a donor has apparently taken over the institution’s operations. 

The workers have alleged that the foreign donor, identified as George Bailey, was operating the library as his own.

They alleged that the ‘good Samaritan’ was now abusing the facility for his own personal gain.

“He holds private meetings without following procedures or informing management about same. 

“He has taken over some computers of the library. Some you will find stripped from their casing,” one staff member alleged.

Asked if they had reported these allegations to management, the employees responded to the affirmative. The workers alleged that management was afraid to confront the donor.

introduced

Asked how Bailey ended up at the library, they said he was introduced to them by a colleague.

“He told us that Bailey wanted to donate some e-books. We were all excited about this. Indeed, he delivered on his promise. However, we found that only the children’s books were useful. These were mostly folktales,” said one librarian.

Otherwise, the librarian alleged that the other material was outdated and could not be used.

Adding, the employees pointed out that the mandate of a library is to supply people with current material. 

However, in appreciation, the workers explained that the folktales were of great help to the children.

proper

The workers said the advantage of these e-books was that the children were able to grasp proper pronunciation of words.

Asked what transpired upon receiving the donation, the staff members alleged that the donor was then given access to the computers.

The workers explained that the reasoning behind granting the donor access to the computer was for him to download the e-books.

Besides downloading the learning material, the workers alleged that the donor started to use the computers for private things.

However, they alleged that the then Eswatini National Library Director, Joy Dlamini, stopped the donor from using the equipment. The staff members alleged that after Dlamini left the institution, her successor re-engaged the donor.

“This was when the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology introduced what we term ‘one gadget per child’ exercise,” said one employee.

The workers said the donor was expected to provide a solution on how children would access information during COVID-19 lockdown.

trouble

“That is when trouble started again. He moves the computers around without informing anyone. Also, he wants to have access to many departments around the library. No one knows what he is doing. And he does not report to anyone because even the incumbent director is away on leave,” one employee alleged.

They further said the director might not return to work because she could go into retirement soon.

“Basically, this means she has left us with challenges. At least if there was some form of documentation that regulates the donor, but there is none,” one employee voiced out.

The workers quickly stated that the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of ICT, Maxwell Masuku, had been informed about the challenges. When contacted, Masuku confirmed that the matter had been brought to his attention.

expressed

Masuku said he had since instructed the Human Resources Manager and the Principal Human Resources Manager to deal with the matter because it was an HR matter. Asked how long it would take to resolve the matter, Masuku expressed hope that it would be soon because he only got the report about a week ago.

“Unfortunately, I had been away from the office for almost a week on doctor’s orders. But, I’m hoping to get feedback soon,” he said.

When commissioning the pair, Masuku instructed that they should be accompanied by an Information Technology (IT) technician.

Masuku explained that they needed to know what had been done on the project.

Asked about who had engaged Bailey, the PS pointed out that the donor was brought by the director.

“The ministry was informed that he wanted to install gadgets or software which would allow children to access the library electronically during the lockdown period. Such an opportunity got me excited. It was for this reason that Bailey was granted permission to access the computers,” he said.

Masuku said when told about the project, they immediately engaged some relevant stakeholders including the Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC).

retirement

He mentioned that the outgoing director wanted the project to be online before she took retirement.

“She suggested that we get zero-rating from EPTC so that the users could get free internet access. We engaged EPTC on the zero-rating and we were granted. With that strength, I agreed to the arrangement.  I want to clarify that the donor was never employed,” Masuku said.

Soon, he said, he would request a briefing on all the library’s activities from the acting director.

When called for comment, the Acting Director, Lindiwe Khumalo, referred enquiries to the ministry. Meanwhile, when contacted, Bailey said he was aware that some employees were against his presence at the library.

He confirmed that he was working on a certain project in collaboration with the Ministry of ICT.

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