SENATE ELECTIONS LOSER SPILLS BEANS TO COPS

MBABANE – One of the Senate candidates who crashed out during the Senate elections, is said to have spilled the beans in front of police officers.

This is said to have happened on Wednesday when he showed them receipts. The Senate candidate reportedly spilled the beans on how he spent money and distributed it during his lobbying, leading to the Senate elections held on October 10, 2023. According to sources, the Senate elections loser was one of the people who were interviewed by the police following the commissioning of a task team to investigate allegations of the sale of votes during the Senate elections. This publication has over the past days reported that aspirant senators, who eventually lost in the Senate elections, purported to have spent over E1 million in lobbying some members of the House of Assembly to vote for them with an original vote during the elections on October 12, 2023.

Perceived

Such has put into doubt the integrity of some of the legislators forming the electoral college. This may also result in the current Parliament being perceived as the most corrupt. Subsequent to the elections, wherein five senators were elected for each gender, those who crashed out started making an array of allegations, with some demanding their money back from the legislators, as they claimed that they had ‘breached’ their gentlemen’s agreement.

Their claims have resulted in the Clerk to Parliament, Benedict Xaba, through a press briefing on Tuesday, informing the media that he had reported to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and also the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) the allegations of some legislators selling their original votes to those who were nominated. As the investigations into the claims that have made their way to the mainstream media continue, this publication has gathered that one of the candidates who crashed out of the race presented to the police receipts of bills wherein he hosted some legislators and also statements detailing withdrawals of large sums of money supposedly offered to the legislators as part of his lobbying model. The sources claimed that the candidate, who purportedly wants his money back from some of the legislators, detailed how he was made to pay them. It is claimed that the Senate candidate, who lost in the elections, explained that there was a ‘cabal’ that started changing tune on the day of the elections, informing him that there was a demand for their original votes; so he should add more money.

Agreed

As such, the aspirant politician reportedly claimed that initially, they had agreed on E30 000 with some of the legislators who were to vote for him. This money, it was gathered, was paid as an advance; however, later on he was made to add more such that it reached about E60 000 per person.
It is claimed that the aspirant politician was also sold vote two at E20 000. In fact, according to sources, on the day of the elections, some of the legislators contacted him and said they had vote two at this fee. As part of his evidence, it is alleged that the aspirant politician detailed how they would meet at or near Matsapha, where they would supposedly engage with the MPs.

The engagements were said to have been completed in the car park of the eatery they used wherein the cash would exchange hands. According to sources, the submission of the aspirant politician lacked the sting as it did not link the supposed legislators with the cash he purportedly distributed.
It is worth noting that more people have been interviewed by the police on the alleged corruption and they include those who are Senate-elects and also those who lost in the race. Sources claimed that the Senate hopefuls who crashed out were requested to assist the police in their investigation by presenting themselves at some of the regional police headquarters.

Establish

Some of those engaged by this publication claimed that they found that there were about 20 law enforcers who interviewed them on their model of campaigning and also sought to establish how much they paid out. They supposed that the law enforcers would in some instances simultaneously question them, which they viewed as intimidating, as some of them were engaging with the police for the first time in this manner. The people interviewed by the police are also inclusive of Senate-elects. 

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