Times Of Swaziland: MINISTER MANQOBA STOPS E1.2BN CYBER DEAL

MINISTER MANQOBA STOPS E1.2BN CYBER DEAL
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BY WELCOME DLAMINI on 03/01/2021 00:19:00


MBABANE –Take note of this codename - ‘Project Harmonia’ – because it is
most likely not going anywhere anytime soon.
Having been solemnised on November 22, 2019 by Minister of Information
Communications and Technology Princess Sikhanyiso when she signed an agreement
with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) - an Israeli government company
(parastatal), this project is meant to bring premium cyber security
infrastructure into the Kingdom of Eswatini.
The project is worth US$72 million, which is about E1.2 billion.
On the day the agreement was signed, government’s official twitter account
wrote: “A Government-to-Government Cyber Security programme has been signed by
Minister of ICT HRH Princess Sikhanyiso for the implementation of a robust,
resilient and national cyber security framework for the Kingdom of Eswatini.”
little harmony
It has since emerged that Project Harmonia has brought little harmony between
senior government officials, prominent private citizens and officials from IAI.
The Times SUNDAY has learnt from highly-placed sources that even at Cabinet
level, there are divisions regarding Project Harmonia.
Some ministers are reportedly questioning whether the project had the buy-in of
Cabinet and whether the agreement that was signed was
‘government-to-government’or between the Ministry of ICT and IAI.
However, some people who are working closely with IAI said those with misgivings
about the project were economic with the truth because presentations were made
to Cabinet in the presence of the then Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini,
and other ministers.
Project Harmonia, the highly-placed sources disclosed, was supposed to be
included in government’s budget for the 2020/2021 financial year, but for
whatever reason, this did not happen.
This has reportedly frustrated IAI whose officials were in the country to try
and have the project kick-started through having government make a down payment
of at least 25 per cent of the project cost.
This is said to have caused a serious rift between IAI, who were represented by
the company’s Director of Marketing and Business Development, Roi Shaposhnik,
and the Acting Minister of ICT, Manqoba Khumalo.
Princess Sikhanyiso, the substantive minister, has been on leave since January
2020.
down payment
Minister Khumalo is said to have explained to the IAI representatives that the
project was not in the budget so there was no way it could be discussed or a
down payment made.
“Secondly, Khumalo told them that even if the project had been included in the
budget, it would have to go through the government tendering system where they
would submit their bids to compete with other companies. The company said it had
signed a contract with the Ministry of ICT; however, they were told that this
was not a binding agreement ,but some form of MOU. But IAI insisted, which they
still do, that this was a full and binding contact,” one of the impeccable
sources disclosed.
Suggestions were reportedly made by some senior government officials to have
money reallocated to Project Harmonia from other projects under the Ministry of
ICT.
However, this proposal is said to have not seen the light of day because the
counter submission was that all monies had been committed to projects that were
already ongoing.
Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku and Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg are
understood to have participated in subsequent meetings with Khumalo and IAI
officials to try and get to the bottom of the misunderstanding.
In the meeting where the Minister of Finance was present, he is said to have
explained to the IAI officials how the government procurement processes worked
and how budget reallocations were also done.
“The minister (Rijkenberg) said as the person responsible for budget
reallocations, he was not aware of a request from the Ministry of ICT regarding
this project’s budget. The notion of budget reallocation is therefore a
fallacy,” an impeccable source said.
Minister Khumalo is said to have told the officials that the project could also
find itself not included in the 2021/2022 financial year’s budget because the
agreement they claimed to have signed had not been to Cabinet.
“The officials were told that there would be no payment of E1.2 billion
without going through a tendering process,” said one of the highly-placed
sources.
tendering process
IAI was reportedly told that the only time other companies could be excluded
from the tendering process was if they proved that no other company provided
cyber security technology they were bringing.
Minister Rijkenberg referred this publication to the Ministry of ICT when he was
asked about the project.
“I can confirm though that no money has been paid to this company,” the
finance minister said.
The meeting involving Rijkenberg is said to have left the IAI officials not
pleased and later informed Minister Khumalo that the Israeli government was not
happy at all with the way they were being treated.
Minister Khumalo, realising the potential that such could have in the relations
between the two countries, is said to have decided to engage the DPM because the
Prime Minister was already indisposed.
“The DPM told the IAI officials that he was not aware of any project that was
called Project Harmonia. He said he was personally involved in the approving of
budgets, but had never heard of such a project that would cost the country E1.2
billion. He said there was a constitution in this country which spelled out
clearly how agreements with other countries were signed.
He asked for the documentation from government sanctioning the signing of the
agreement for this project.
He said such agreements, in the absence of the constitutionally provided
channels, was null and void,” disclosed one of the sources.
Masuku confirmed the meeting with IAI officials and said his main aim was to get
an understanding of the project because he knew nothing about it.
“I didn’t know about the project. When they came, I didn’t know about it
because being in my position doesn’t mean I know everything. It was the first
time that I got details about it when I met with them. I am still to get more
details from the relevant principal secretary. Problems will always be there and
we have to solve them,” he said.
Asked how he did not know the project if it was presented to Cabinet and a
government-to-government agreement had been signed, Masuku said there were many
Cabinet presentations that were made by different cyber companies.
“When they came to me and said an agreement was signed, I wanted to get more
details about that because the signing was not in Cabinet, but
‘ministerially’ through the AG’s office etc. We are pursuing this, it’s
just that we haven’t had the opportunity because of the busy schedule,” the
DPM said.
diplomatic channels
He said if the Israeli government was not happy about anything pertaining to the
treatment accorded the IAI officials, such would be communicated through
diplomatic channels.
“Foreign affairs will help us because government policy dictates that if it
involves government-to-government, then it will be dealt with by foreign
affairs. Minister of Foreign Affairs will be able to tell us if they had
received information from the government of Israel expressing concerns on the
treatment of IAI officials,” he said.
A locally-based representative of IAI said it was quite surprising that the DPM
was now claiming not to know anything about Project Harmonia yet he was present
in Cabinet when the project was presented.
“He was sitting next to the prime minister and there were four other Cabinet
ministers present. The prime minister even asked about the cost of the project.
This happened in Cabinet offices where the Cabinet meeting was properly
constituted,” the representative said.
He said the project was passed by Cabinet and then it was allegedly agreed that
because there was no budget for it at that time, it would be included in the
2020/2021 financial year.
huge delegation
“The late prime minister said in the meantime, the process of formalising that
project would continue. That is why it continued and the huge delegation from
Israel came to the country in November 2019. The late PM okayed the project and
gave Inkhosatana Sikhanyiso the go-ahead to sign the agreement. The AG even
cleared the agreement,” the representative alleged.
He said when the DPM met with IAI officials in parliament, Shaposhnik wanted to
know what the hold-up was all about because a negative picture was being painted
back home in Israel that Eswatini was not taking the project seriously.
The representative said the challenge with the current administration was the
thinking that Project Harmonia was Inkhosatana Sikhanyiso’s baby yet this was
a project initiated during the time of the previous administration led by then
Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini.
“The genesis of the matter is that Barnabas was sent by His Majesty to Israel
to deliver a special message to President Benjamin Netanyahu. He was accompanied
by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Mgwagwa Gamedze, former Minister of
Agriculture Moses Vilakati (now minister of tourism), and former Minister of
Commerce Industry and Trade Jabulani Mabuza (now minister of agriculture). A
high-powered delegation from Israel then visited the country afterwards and met
with senior officials at Esibayeni Lodge where three themes emerged around
pharmaceuticals, agriculture and cyber security, with the latter being quickly
auctioned on. When HRH Sikhanyiso went to Israel in June 2019, it wasn’t on
her personal visit, but a lot was involved,” stated the representative.
He said the current administration should not personalise the issue but should
have the interests of the country at heart because there was a lot that was
riding on the success of Project Harmonia.
He also clarified that the issue of the down payment that IAI had initially
demanded had been addressed and the Israeli company informed that they would not
be paid without work having been done and they reportedly understood.
Minister Khumalo, meanwhile, said Principal Secretary Maxwell Masuku should have
the answers regarding the project. “He is the one who has the detailsbecause
they are the ones who have been working on it,” the minister said.
However, Khumalo said he could confirm that the agreement that the ICT Ministry
signed in 2019 was not approved by Cabinet.
He said the fact that a presentation was made to the PM and some Cabinet
ministers did not constitute a Cabinet approval.
Cabinet approval
“A Cabinet approval requires a Cabinet paper to be written and the draft
agreement attached. It is then deliberated on and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs confirms knowledge of such if it involves two countries. All this is yet
to happen,” Khumalo said. He said besides, Cabinet approvals were from MOUs
and could not be confused with procurement decisions that should go through the
tender board.
“We are looking at including a project on cyber security in the next financial
year’s budget, but it will go through the normal procurement processes,” the
minister added.
Shaposhnik, the IAI official, said he would need to get permission from the
Israeli Ministry of Defence before making a comment and then referred this
publication to IAI Public Relations Manager Dafna Slyper who said she would also
have to check with the Ministry of Defence first.
She promised to get back to the Times SUNDAY, but had not done so by late last
night.
In its website, IAI states that it was established in 1953 as Bedek Aviation
Company - a governmental institute for aviation – and started out as an
all-purpose service and supplies provider, specialising in air defence
solutions.
world leader
It is stated that in the decades since, the company has grown to become a world
leader in both the defense and commercial markets, developing, producing and
delivering state-of-the-art technologies and systems across a range of domains,
including air, land, sea, space, cyber, homeland security and ISR.
It is further stated that cyber is a strategic sector for IAI, with the cyber
business unit having developed unique solutions for cyber defense, protection,
monitoring, prediction, identification, intelligence and accessibility.
Solutions are said to include national-grade cyber early warning centres, cyber
security for mission-critical systems, aviation and maritime cyber security,
cyber intelligence, cellular search and rescue system, and critical cyber
protection solutions.
It is additionally mentioned that IAI leads the Israeli Cyber Companies
Consortium (IC3), which offers end-to-end solutions for national cyber centres
and comprises Israel’s foremost cyber companies; and the Israeli Aviation
Cyber Companies Consortium (IAC3), offering cyber security solutions for the
commercial aviation eco-system.
Both consortiums were reportedly established under the auspice of Israel’s
Ministry of Economy and Trade’s consortiums programme.