Times Of Swaziland: ACC DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM AG ON FUNDUZI ENGAGEMENT

ACC DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM AG ON FUNDUZI ENGAGEMENT
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Timothy Simelane on 10/06/2024 10:37:00


MBABANE – The ACC is demanding from AG Timothy Matsebula, documents for the
appointment of Funduzi Forensic Services (Pty) Ltd.
Funduzi Forensic Services is the company that was contracted by government to
conduct an investigation into irregularities relating to procurement, in
particular the acquisition and distribution of medicine to public institutions.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has since written to the auditor general
(AG), where they gave his office seven days to release all the documents that
were used in the appointment of Funduzi Forensic Services, which exposed serious
irregularities in the procurement of drugs.
Speech
The report compiled by Funduzi was tabled by the Minister of Finance, Neal
Rijkenberg, in Parliament when he presented his budget speech for the financial
year 2024/25. It is yet to be scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee
(PAC), a parliamentary watchdog on government spending, before being debated by
Parliament in it entirety. However, that process may be impeded as the
foundation process of the report has now been subjected to scrutiny by the ACC. 
Last week, the PAC had to suspend its sittings for consultations after the Prime
Minister, Rusell Dlamini, sharply criticised the AG’s reports, further
questioning his competence.
Developments
In the latest developments, the Acting Commissioner of the ACC, Maphevu
Mkhatshwa, wrote a letter to the AG, dated May 13, 2024, in which he cited
Section 11 and 12 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act No. 3 of 2003, and the
Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) of 2018. Among the sheath of documents
required by the ACC is the authority to procure from Funduzi Forensic Services
and other companies, as well as the technical and financial evaluation reports
of the companies awarded the tenders. The ACC also wants documents from the
initial stage, where the request to procure was made to the Eswatini Tender
Board (ETB).
Then, it requires the response that was given by the tender Board. It further
requires the request for proposal (RFP) to suppliers, as well as the response to
that request by the suppliers. The AG has been required to then produce the
request to procure from Funduzi Forensic Services and other awarded companies
and the authority that was subsequently granted. He is then required to produce
the technical and financial evaluation reports of the companies awarded the
tenders to procure.
Submit
The ACC further wants Matsebula to submit the ‘request to waive threshold’,
which was granted by the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (EPPRA).
He is also required to provide variation contracts and supporting documents as
well as contracts between his office, Funduzi and the other awarded
companies.“Your institution will also be required to provide us with an
affidavit (s), outlining the provided information and any other information that
will be discussed between our investigators and your officer/s in respect of
this investigation.”
Matsebula was given seven days to respond to the letter. This newspaper sent
questionnaires to Matsebula yesterday, seeking to know if he was cooperating
with the ACC, but he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
ACC Director Jabu Phakathi could not be reached for comment. Meanwhile,
contention on the appointment of Funduzi first played out at the High Court,
where SwaziPharm Director and Indonesian Consul Kareem Ashraff, wanted the
Funduzi report to be released. In that application, Ashraff also questioned the
appointment of Funduzi. However, the matter fell off after the report was made
public.
Misled
Ashraff had alleged that the auditor general misled Government Tender Board to
appoint Funduzi Forensic Services (Pty) Ltd. In view of the fact that this was a
limited tender, Ashraff submitted, that the AG allegedly submitted that a
recommendation that Funduzi Forensic Services should be appointed.  “There was
no public advertisement of this tender, and consequently, it follows that the
auditor general provided information to the tender Board to the effect that
Funduzi had the requisite technical knowledge and experience to carry out an
assignment of this nature. He must, therefore, have had prior knowledge of
Funduzi. Acting on the strength of this representation, the tender Board
appointed Funduzi,” argued Ashraff in his court papers.
Meanwhile, Funduzi Director, Zakhele Dlamini, had dismissed Ashraff’s
assertions as a witchhunt, because he had not even seen the report when he made
the allegations. Zakhele, in a letter written to the Times last week, said it
was unfortunate that the Office of the AG was being dragged all over the place,
following the investigation which was sanctioned by the 11th Parliament. “The
11th administration passed the motion that a forensic investigation be conducted
in the downward spiral of the Ministry of Health, resulting in thousands of
emaSwati losing lives.
“They instructed the Office of the Auditor General to conduct this
investigation. The Office of the Auditor General, which is the Supreme Audit
Institution (SAI) of Eswatini is mandated by Section 207 of the Constitution of
the country to carry out all audits where public funds have been collected and
or used,” Zakhele said. He explained that the Office of the Auditor General of
Eswatini enjoys certain privileges and immunity to fully power it and enable it
to have more direct and robust audit work. This publication has also seen a
letter written by one of the suppliers cited in the report, directed to the
chairperson of the Civil Service Commission, also complaining about the award of
the tender. Questions were sent to the CSC seeking to know if such a letter was
entertained, but there were no answers forthcoming. While battling the court
applications and resistance to its reports, the AG also has to contend with the
prime minister’s doubts of  his reports and competence.
The criticism emanated from audits about the National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA) and how it handled COVID-19 funds during the time when the
Prime Minister, Russell Dlamini, was chief executive officer there.The PM said
professional auditors had found that the NDMA books were unqualified (clean
audits), yet Matsebula said millions of Emalangeni were unaccounted for.