JUSTICE DELAYED…

I think it’s fair to expect every discerning individual in this country of Eswatini to be sick to death, learning from the auditor-general’s (AG) numerous reports of money unaccounted for in public agencies of His Majesty’s Government.

The AG appears to be doing a good job. But is the public then fully informed by those public agencies of the accountability obtained from those responsible? Not with the urgency and publicity to which the general public is entitled. If I’m wrong, then let’s see government publish a schedule of financial shortfalls, the outcome of investigations and personal accountability imposed. Wishful thinking?

To be fair, I’ve encountered, in numerous countries, the reluctance of companies and governments to attach too much publicity to the outcomes of substantial frauds and other corrupt activities by those entrusted with shareholders’ or  public funds respectively. There’s no appetite for bringing the really big frauds out into the public domain; simply because of the inevitable public conclusion of chronically poor internal controls being there in the first place. And don’t forget, government money is public money, meaning it’s owned by, and thus stolen from, the public.

Lutfo Dlamini, the Ndzingeni MP, recently suggested that civil servants were ‘getting rich’, when he drew attention to the E151.6 million of drugs missing in public health facilities around the country. Another MP referred to health workers, including at least one doctor, all employed by government and operating private pharmacies. That’s a red flag. So what do you do? As a very urgent priority government has to improve the internal control and audit systems. Then it must investigate the financial deficits, proceeding expeditiously to public resolutions in all cases. Those private operators must provide the records of drugs sold, and where they got them from in the first place. Proven theft must be immediately prosecuted, and in the absence of direct evidence of theft, but with no adequate evidence of acquiring the drugs honestly, then the trading licence must be removed. The deterrent will be created as the word and the investigations spread.

Confirms

And how do you investigate allegations of corruption in the context of such discrepancies? Well, that’s what the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is for. An allegation is made, the ACC confirms the potential veracity of it and then gets to work on the investigation. Oh, but terribly sorry, there aren’t any ACC investigations today following the  pronouncement around six years ago by the chief justice, that the investigative procedures of the ACC conflicted with the provisions of the national Constitution of 2005. So what do you do? Well, it’s simple. You either change the procedures of the ACC or you change the Constitution. And what has been done in the six years since this pronouncement? It sits on appeal in the Supreme Court with the grass growing through.

When you consider the amount of money that is said by the AG to be unaccounted for – in all likelihood stolen rather than recording errors – and in the absence of the ACC, you could employ the best independent auditors for forensic audits where the audit fees would be tiny compared with the massive loss of resources that is being reported. And, even better, government should employ independent external auditors to supervise a national programme of  continuous internal audits in public sector agencies. You’ll save a fortune.
We don’t know the extent of the naked theft and other forms of corruption, but we are seeing these massive discrepancies, with an emasculated ACC looking at hundreds of unprosecuted, and suspected-as-corrupt individuals, simply escaping prosecution. And what about the Statute of Limitations? Keep the case non-prosecuted for six years and the indictment falls away? Let’s hear about it.

Awaiting

And how many serious criminal cases – murder rape or armed robbery – are also awaiting prosecution? The word on the street is that it runs into hundreds; where the indictment had been drawn up, but the prosecutions have not yet taken place; hundreds. Is that correct? There’s surely no motive for that number being made up. Individual emaSwati should ask their current and aspiring MPs; “What are you going to do about it?” Justice delayed is justice denied. The Ministry of Justice should provide a clear answer. Are all these people – accused of murder, rape or armed robbery – going to face justice; with the victims getting justice?

I like to keep my articles relatively light-hearted, and inform with a bit of fun attached. But this issue of national corruption makes me angry because we had the opportunity in 1998 to do what Botswana did – hire someone ‘big’, independent, unafraid and, of course, expensive, to head it up. He launched hundreds of cases in his first year; imagine the deterrent effect. But we didn’t want to pay someone as much. Look how much we’ve lost since then. And what message does it send out to the average liSwati? It says – go and steal your heart out. You won’t face justice because there is no justice. If I’m talking rubbish, please tell me publicly. Then prove that you resolved the judicial backlog equitably, and I will apologise; on my knees.

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