corruption as old as the swazi nation

Surprisingly, supporters of the Tinkhundla system now seem to be complaining about the wrong done by the executive and the non-delivery of services,  but run short of blaming the political system thus creating it as a holy cow. 

This maybe due to the blindfolded thinking these people have and probably the failure to analyse issues.  It is the Tinkhundla system that put the people to manage the affairs of government and it must have the mechanism, if they fail to deliver to deal with them.  In genuine democratic nations, a minister resigns if he fails to deliver as per the manifesto promises or disaster happens without government issuing a public warning. 

In Swaziland, these lead one to permanent stay in that ministry or to a transfer to another ministry to continue the inefficiencies because these appointments are about earnings and not service delivery.  Behind the scenes, it can be learnt that these people openly declare that they never applied and were fetched from the comfort of their homes hence should not be accused of any failure. 

Therefore, the Tinkhundla system is meant to permanently protect certain individuals regardless of their performance.  The supporters of the Tinkhundla system must understand that the country and the Swazi nation are bigger than this political system. It has brought curses and suffering and has made the ordinary Swazi fail to realise his potential power, birth right and the constitutional rights as enshrined in the ignored Constitution. 

Corruption is as old as the Swazi nation, which suggests that as a nation, we should change some of the ways we conduct things and show respect to others.  We should learn to say ‘no’ and call a spade as such without any fear or favour.  Under the Tinkhundla rule, is this possible? 

In the 1970s, a commission of inquiry was set-up to look into corrupt tendencies and not much was achieved.  Later, another corruption case went into the High Court involving influential Swazi individuals and a South African born, who was working in the defrauded institution.  Instead of being remorseful of the embezzlement, the Swazi came out with new names and phrases; money being eaten by the mice and swept down by Umtilane river and nothing happened to that Swazi to date.  But the non-Swazi was finally booked into the Correctional Services.  Is it not amazing that the Tinkhundla regime is fond of declaring lots of huge monies through corruption as if these funds were lost in the multi party government, presumable because it did not have strategies and mechanisms to deal with such corruption? 

If it is true that the Tinkhundla government has lost over E147m in six ministries through corruption, one can expect more than this because there are over 18 ministries.  If mathematics is anything to go by, then the loss through corruption is over E441m.  But then, who benefits from such amounts? 

One would have expected that it is invested within the country, creating employment and wealth for the Swazi nation thus helping to reduce the scourge of poverty.  It looks like the ordinary Swazi has not had a share in the proceeds of this corruption fund.  Who in his proper senses would conclude that the Tinkhundla system is capable to reduce or eliminate corruption in this country? 

This system was founded on corrupt principles accompanied by deceitful ideology and it thrives on nepotism and ignorance of the electorate and the general populace.  People have been complaining about the recruitment of the police, warders and soldiers, especially where the would-be officers and their parents are subjected into many corrupt practices to be assured of the recruitment and no serious action has ever been taken. 

The recent Umsizi grandsons recruitment opened another floodgate of corruption and any person doubting this should honestly verify those recruited under this promise and their connection with Umsizi.  Soon, in this country, one would have to pay the civil servants to access government services.   How many people have paid for recruitment into these security services, getting government jobs, other appointments, securing parliament seats, etc?  

People who are a product of corruption cannot dare stop corruption, but will always cushion its survival by using delaying tactics and numerous excuses.  Some people may be engaged in corruption because they have seen it as a gateway to getting one’s desires or that they want to repay the debts caused by funding of getting these desires. 

Talk of corruption, but the Auditor General, annually produces his report, highlighting all the wrongs in government financial spending, lack of control, poor financial management and unauthorised spending as stipulated by the Finance and Management Audit Act of 1967 as amended in 1992 and embraced by the Swaziland Constitution Act, 2005 and no person has been taken to court for violating these acts.

Besides, the Crime and Fraud Unit in the police Services, there is the Anti-Corruption Commission with a budget of E11 760 429 for the 2010/2011 estimates.   Therefore, to add another expense to investigate corruption defeats logic and only show how the Tinkhundla regime is prepared to milk the taxpayer until the last drop of blood. 

In case, some people have forgotten, the Anti-Corruption Unit was established some years ago to fight corruption and those who were in charge then complained about not having the power to prosecute, hence the Unit disappeared without any person being brought to book.  Now with the Commission, new complaints are coming up including; non-availability of resources, no expertise to investigate fraud and white collar crime.  Well, is this not way of delaying the eradication of corruption in the country?  Goal posts shifting is the way of operation in this system.

Comments

You are wrong again Mbho, first of all there are mechanisms within the system to get rid of those who are not performing or are misconducting themselves. We have a parliament that has the power of passing a vote of no-confidence to the prime minister and cabinet. The only people who can be blamed for not using this power are the parliamentarians. So hence it is not the system that is wrong here but the people that work under it. You also forget that in the past and previous years cabinet ministers who were offside were dismissed with immediate effect. Clear examples are former minister of transports Mr. Titus who it turned out had cashed in after one of our air crafts were sold and then there's Mfofo who was minister of natural resource and was also dismissed because of misconduct. So the mechanisms are there. So stop being one sided Shongwe, try to be balanced. Lastly, whether a country consists of a multiparty system, communist, Tinkhundla, socialist, etc, corruption has always existed. As we speak, there are multiparty democratic states within our continent and beyond were corruption is far worse compared to Swaziland.
June 29, 2010, 12:10 pm, Ndvuna

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