Times Of Swaziland: ACC INVESTIGATION DONE: ARRESTS LOOMING IN HOME AFFAIRS  INVESTIGATION

ACC INVESTIGATION DONE: ARRESTS LOOMING IN HOME AFFAIRS  INVESTIGATION
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Ntombi Mhlongo on 25/08/2024 17:08:00


MBABANE – The net is closing in on civil servants who are implicated in the
fraudulent activities at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
This is because the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which has been conducting
investigations, has reportedly completed its work. This publication has gathered
that the ACC has completed its work and around 10 officers are set to face the
music.Having concluded the investigation, it was gathered that ACC officers were
already working on an application to obtain warrants of arrests for the
implicated individuals. Sources revealed that if all goes according to plan, the
arrests would be effected in the next coming days.
Called for comment, ACC Acting Commissioner Maphevu Mkhatjwa said while the
commission has completed its investigation, he could not say when the arrests
would be effected.
Mkhatjwa argued that it was not wise to reveal anything, as such would
jeopardise whatever investigation they carried out. He then referred this
reporter to ACC Spokesperson Jabu Phakathi who, however, told this reporter that
she was not aware of any planned arrests.
Prohibits
Phakathi reminded this reporter that the entity operates within the ambit of the
law which prohibits the disclosure of information or details of any person who
is the subject of an enquiry or investigation. The ACC has a three-pronged legal
mandate of prevention whereby it is supposed to examine practices and procedures
and advice on ways of preventing corruption.
It also has an education role of empowering the public and private bodies and
the general public on the forms and dangers of corruption. Furthermore, the ACC
has the function of investigation which is to receive and investigate complaints
of alleged or suspected corrupt practices made against any person, and refer
appropriate cases to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Refugee status
In 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs instituted an internal probe into the sale
of refugee status and passports to foreign nationals. Police investigations
reportedly found that there was a syndicate dealing in documentation status and
refugee passports. It was revealed that the syndicate charged between E30 000
and E50 000 for fresh and legal documents for any undocumented citizen, who
wanted to be treated as an official refugee in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The
internal investigations saw over 100 immigration officers being transferred last
year. At the time, the Immigration Office was faced with the challenge of
disappearance and theft of security documents such as passports and travel
documents. When the investigation was instituted, the ministry did state that
heads were set to roll, as it was dedicated to getting rid of all elements of
corruption.
Aiding a syndicate
In one of the cases, there were allegations that government officials were
aiding a syndicate in Manzini that was dealing in refugee status documentation
and passports. It was alleged that during the internal investigation, an
official confessed to taking a bribe from a foreign national. She, however,
could not renew the passport and it triggered the investigation and the ACC
reportedly instituted an internal investigation in the ministry to ascertain if
there were officers who were involved in granting the passports illegally. It
has been reported that as the ACC continued with its investigation, it was
discovered that in the system, the information on who had printed the passports
had been deleted.
Reliable sources have confided that the ACC then engaged the Royal Science and
Technology Park (RSTP) based on the fact that it is the one that controls the
systems of the making of passports and other documents. The RSTP, it was
gathered, has what is known as the administrative rights and there are officers
who are able to find the documents since there are footprints that are in the
system. The RSTP system is able to determine that an officer presented the
documents and this is made possible through the use of the IP address of the
computer that was used.
There were suspicions that there could be officers who wiped out some of the
evidence and the RSTP has to come in to re-assemble the needed data. Worth
noting is that for some time, the ACC has been deemed inefficient with members
of the public and politicians labelling it toothless in that it received a
government subvention but did not effect as many arrests as expected. However,
things have changed in recent months as there have been arrests witnessed.Last
month, the ACC nabbed a UNESWA lecturer and a senior officer of the National
Maize Corporation (NMC). The UNESWA lecturer, who is also a farmer, has been
identified as Daniel Vusane Dlamini of Mkhulamini, while the officer is Mthobisi
Sifiso Dlamini of Nyakeni and is employed as a Project Manager at NMC. The two
are alleged to have colluded in a corrupt act involving a truck trailer
belonging to government.
Prevention of corruption
The duo was arrested in accordance with the Prevention of Organised Crime Act
(POCA), a legislation enacted to investigate and punish corrupt activities,
establish the ACC and to provide for other matters incidental to the prevention
of corruption. The POCA was put in place in 2018 and since its inception, the
State has seized and subsequently forfeited a number of assets that are believed
to have been acquired through criminal means or used as instrumentality for
criminal activities.The two individuals are said to have been arrested for
allegedly contravening Section 42 of the POCA, which details general offences of
corruption. The veracity of the allegations is yet to be tested in court.
According to the charge sheet, in 2015, the Government of Eswatini bought
farming equipment which included tractors, tractor trailers and other farming
implements for purposes of hiring them out to farmers in the country.
The tractor trailers bought were 50 in number.