E28 million saga: Parly report differs with PM

A report presented to and adopted by Parliament at the time, made this clear.

It even quoted the violated piece of legislation.

Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini was head of government between 2001 and 2002, when the state tried to purchase a jet that would cost up to E700 million, for the king.

He was reinstated in October last year, after a five-year hiatus.

On March 6, 2009, he told editors at a monthly forum that he never stole the funds paid as a deposit.

He said he had the authority back then to reallocate funds in the budget from some activities to others.

He admitted himself that this would come as a surprise to the editors because he had been accused of having stolen the money, but never responded.

This newspaper went back to the report of the Parliament Select Committee tasked with investigating the issue of acquiring the royal jet.

Part 15.5 of its findings reads: "The Prime Minister had no legal mandate to instruct Principal Secretaries, by letter, to disburse funds."

Part 15.9 says the Prime Minister misdirected himself by quoting Financial Regulation 0402 which regulated emergency expenditure. It was the committee’s view that purchasing the private jet could not have been an emergency.

The committee, ironically led by Allen Dlamini, a relative of the PM, also found that the E28 million had been sourced from public funds without the appropriate legal framework.

At least E10 million had been an allocation for millennium projects, E4 million came from the Swaziland National Treasury and E14 million from the Royal Swaziland National Airways Corporation (RSNAC).

The committee found that the name of His Majesty the King had been abused while the process of acquiring the jet continued.

It recommended that all steps should be taken to recover all monies paid for the jet.

Part 16.12 of the recommendations reads: "It is common knowledge now that among other laws, the Finance Management and Audit Act 1967, as amended, was violated. There is no legal framework that gives permission to the Prime Minister to redirect funds that have, lawfully, been allocated by Parliament.

The PM’s office declined to clarify its position on these revelations when a questionnaire was sent to it last week.

Macanjana Motsa, Government Press Secretary, said the issue was discussed at the last breakfast meeting between editors and Cabinet ministers.

This meeting was held on March 5, 2009, at the Mountain Inn.

"His Excellency, the Prime Minister, Dr Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini deliberated on these issues at length," she said.