Times Of Swaziland: MPS ORDER UNESWA AUDIT, GIVE MINISTER ULTIMATUM

MPS ORDER UNESWA AUDIT, GIVE MINISTER ULTIMATUM
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Sabelo Majola on 31/03/2023 08:48:00


LOBAMBA - A motion has been moved successfully, calling for the Minister of
Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, to institute an audit investigation into the
management of public funds at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA).
The minister has been given 30 days after passing of the motion, which commenced
yesterday, to table a report on his findings at the tertiary institution. The
motion was moved by Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini, who stated that the university
had downgraded to junk status and was a shadow of its former self. The
legislator said moving the motion was not meant to make fun of or disgracing the
institution, but they were exercising their powers as lawmakers to play an
oversight role if need be.
Dlamini said the university was of great value to the nation, so much that even
the head of State was going there annually to bless graduates.
However, he shared that these days the university was nothing short of a camp
for protesters as everybody, including the academic staff, non-academic staff
and the students, were engaging in protests.
“The intellectuals that we entrusted to administer the university are
obviously failing to carry out their duties. This is proven by audited
statements, which were last made available two years ago and that means the
university is not audited,” he said. Dlamini said the minister, as compelled
by the Constitution, should table an audited financial statement of the
university, but was not doing so, adding that the Auditor General, Timothy
Matsebula, was not aware of the minister’s reasons not to adhere to the
Constitution.
Pumping
This is despite that every year, government pumps millions of taxpayers’ money
into the institution. “The responsibility to audit the funds lies squarely
with the administration, which incidentally comprises of the most highly
educated emaSwati in the country.” Dlamini highlighted that the institution
was withholding pay-as-you-earn for its employees but not remitting same to the
Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS), finding itself in debts worth millions of
Emalangeni. He said the most painful thing was that there were employees who
were nearing the retirement age and would not have their pension available,
owing to the financial situation at the university.
He shared that even employees who were paying medical aid did not benefit from
same because there was no money contributed by the university.
He also highlighted that some employees were paying their credits through stop
orders but, because of the financial challenges, they were going to jail for
failure to commit to payments. “We are not targeting anyone but this is in the
interest of transparency, hence we request the minister and the AG to launch the
probe so that the report can unearth the rot that is going on at the university
and clear the name of the institution,” he submitted.
Challenges
In his motion, the legislator moved that the House, in light of the reported
financial challenges faced by the University of Eswatini and the resultant
protracted industrial action in part, as well as on the basis of the conspicuous
non-submission of annual reports and audited accounts by the Minister of
Education and Training in terms of Section 28(5) of the University of Eswatini
Act, 1983 (as amended), requests the Minister of Finance to institute an audit
investigation, in accordance with Section 207 of the National Constitution, into
the management of public funds at the University of Eswatini.
The seconder of the motion and Gilgal MP Kenneth Sandla Fakudze said once upon a
time UNESWA was the pride of the country, attracting students from neighbouring
countries and imparting the knowledge but that had changed.
He said that if parliamentarians would sit back and do nothing, while there were
obvious challenges that included students spending more time outside of class in
protest than they did learning, then they would be letting down the head of
State, who is the Chancellor at the institution. All MPs who declared interest
to make submissions on the motion supported it and they all had one common
submission - that there was a lot going wrong at the institution and it needed
to be unearthed and dealt with. Lomahasha MP Ndumiso Masimula said they had
asked the ministry if there was a bailout plan for the university, but the
response was not satisfactory. “We have all been disgraced as emaSwati by the
falling of what used to be the region’s attraction. We need that institution
because if well manned, it paints a very colourful picture about the country,”
he said.
Unfolding
Mangcongco MP Oneboy Zikalala said he was once visited by concerned citizens
from his constituency, who wanted to know why the legislators were quiet about
the ugly events unfolding at the university because some of them were paying
straight from their pockets, only for the students to spend more time outside
class due to protests. Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo submitted that UNESWA
had degenerated to levels below average and his biggest worry was that the
university had become insolvent and it was only surviving through a subvention
from government that was barely making a difference.
Khumalo asserted that the institution was a sorry sight, so much that none of
its alumni were proud of it. He touched on the deficit of the pension that the
university owed in millions, terming it horrible. “What boggles the mind is
that the conduct at the university does not change as previously we thought the
protests were caused by activism of the students but lecturers and non-academic
staff have also become party to the protests.
“It is now on the verge of closure, one that will not be short and that is the
danger of it,” he said. The legislator said the standards of the curriculum of
the university had dropped tremendously and sharp students were not gaining
anything but chuff in recent times.
He even made an example of an A student who attained straight As and two Bs from
his constituency, once approached him, seeking assistance to enrol at a
university in Botswana for fear that he would not get the desired results at
UNESWA. Khumalo then requested the minister not to take the report to Cabinet
but bring it straight to Parliament when it was ready for tabling.