EWADE MODEL CAN SAVE US

THE submissions coming out of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sittings really make for depressing reading. This is where government officials are called to explain irregularities in the use of taxpayer’s funds. Each day after the next, you wonder how this country is still breathing, given the unbelievable levels of transgressions that translate to looting of public funds. Yet the culprits walk free, with arrogant pride.

Contend

How does one contend with that the long-awaited forensic audit into the double payment for the Nhlangano-Sicunusa Road is to be started afresh, simply because the consultant failed to fulfil its terms of reference? How does one come to terms with revelations that evidence ‘walked out’ of files, without trace for a simple rehabilitation project at Eswatini Co-operative Development College (ECODEC) that was to cost the taxpayer E2.5 million but ballooned close to E8.9 million?

The list goes on and the common denominator is the lack of effective systems to deter and curb corruption, non-service delivery and ballooning of projects costs for various reasons, yet all this can be done. There are institutions like the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development (EWADE) that are showing effective service delivery is possible with internal systems that are garnering international recognition and producing a high rate of success at tender cost, with savings at times. With these systems in place, the taxpayer would have long enjoyed the Nhlangano-Sicunusa road at its initial cost and not the extra E600 million it took to get another contractor to complete it.

Evidence

The audit will now be redone by new consultants to produce the evidence. After so many years, one has to ask if this evidence still exists. This case is similar to that of evidence disappearing into thin air involving a project that ballooned in costs carried out ECODEC  (former CODEC). What was supposed to cost E2.5 million, eventually cost the taxpayer about E8.9 million. The PAC has been told that all that could be done to the responsible officers, as the paperwork related to these transactions was missing. The absence of effective procurement and monitoring systems has also reared its ugly head at the Central Medical Stores (CMS) and many emaSwati have had to pay the price of this failure, with their lives.
Also coming out of PAC this week is how the taxpayer has had to fork out over E108 million in over expenditure on fuel attributable to car abuse under the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

The current government fleet neither have tracking devices nor any means to monitor the use of the fuel and distance travelled by the car or if the trip was for government services.
So, the abuse party goes on and on, while essential needs go begging with no end to the pain and suffering endured by those in need. If it were not for institutions like EWADE (former SWADE), I would have given up on this country by now.  A visit to the institution the past week healed me. It gave hope that we still have parastatals that have adopted highly professional standards in their work, from procurement, tender awards, monitoring and evaluation and execution.

Their standards are attracting global attention and funders are seeking them, not the other way round. I got to appreciate why government touts EWADE as shining example of service delivery. Projects are completed on time, within budget and in some cases with savings.  Their success lies in investing in systems that deter temptation and make it difficult to fiddle around, while setting very high standards of application by its highly qualified team. And it is a very lean squad by the way. You then wonder why it is so difficult to duplicate this model throughout the public sector. Am I asking the obvious?

One needs not remind the decision makers of this country that the failure to prosecute the culprits or deal decisively with corruption, is perpetuating a culture of looting everywhere.
Scammers are on the rise because this country tolerates and encourages it by lack of deterrent action.  Look no further than the reactions to the recent conviction of a former petrol attendant who stole from his employer and skipped the country to Mozambique to spend the money, only to return after a few years to face the consequences.  He has been given seven years in jail without a fine, but he is being heralded as a hero for what he did. One of the female commentators even promised him a ‘rare bedroom treat’ for his heroics when he gets out of jail in five years or so. Crime is being idolised and once the ladies are cheering it on, then you know we have a recipe for disaster. It is time to dial EWADE to the rescue because clearly the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has taken an undeserved sabbatical.

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