ELECTIONS BLOW FOR OVER 100 NOMINEES

MBABANE – A thorn in the flesh! It appears tax evasion could be the only obstacle which might catch up with some of the people canvassing for votes to win seats in the House of Assembly.

Others are vying for political positions outside Parliament such as Bucopho (constituency councillors) and Indvuna Yenkhundla (Constituency headman).
The Times SUNDAY’s investigations have revealed that more than 100 candidates nominated for the positions of MP, constituency headmen and councillors owed tax, something, which could disqualify them from the general elections.

It is a constitutional prerequisite for the nominees to submit tax compliance certificates or undertaking to pay the tax and copy of fingerprints, among other things, to the returning officer.

MAKE ARRANGEMENTS
satisfactorily

This is based on Section 96 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland), which stipulates that a person qualifies to be appointed, elected or nominated, as the case may be, as a senator or member of the House if he or she was paid all taxes or made arrangements satisfactorily to the commissioner of taxes.

In terms of the supreme law, Bucopho, the executive committee of inkhundla, consists of persons elected from the chiefdoms or polling divisions and shall have same qualifications as a Member of Parliament.

Other requirements for election are that the candidate should have attained the age of 18 years and is a registered voter in the Inkhundla where he has been nominated (in the case of elected members). The nominee must be a citizen of Eswatini, according to the Constitution.
The issue of tax compliance is so delicate that any person can be disqualified from being a parliamentarian, whether appointed by the King or elected by the people if he or she is found to be in tax arrears.

Sources said about 100 per cent of the 6 486 candidates complied with the requirements of age, nationality and voter registration but the challenge emerged when it was time to submit the tax compliance certificates.

One of the candidates nominated for the position of Indvuna yenkhundla (constituency headman) said she registered a hairdressing salon with the Registrar of Companies in 2009, but it did not take off. She said she was shocked when the Eswatini Revenue Authority (ERA) told her she owed tax dating back to the year she registered her business.

She explained that she was told she would not get the tax compliance certificate if she did not settle the outstanding debt or rather make an undertaking that she would pay the taxman on an agreed period of time.

When she agreed to make the undertaking, she said she was advised to pay a 33 per cent deposit as a commitment fee. Asked how much she owed, she said the SRA was yet to make estimates for tax she could have paid if her business was operational.

She said she just left the offices of the SRA dejected and in a dilemma over whether to continue standing for the election or quit the exercise altogether. Her name cannot be disclosed because she has not yet made a decision about the issue.

Richard Phungwayo, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Head of Secretariat, said the figure of people with tax issues could be more than 100. However, he said the EBC was in continuous engagement with the ERA over the issue as tax compliance was a general requirement recognised in law, not necessarily something that has to specifically do with the elections.

He said it would be prudent for the ERA not to deprive the candidates of their constitutional right to be voted to the Inkhundla executive committee or parliament.

Elected or not elected, Phungwayo said people were generally expected to pay tax. He said the taxman should be happy that the election process capacitated them to prepare data for people who owed tax.
He said they did not want the nation to think that the EBC conducted elections solely to trick them into paying tax. “People should pay tax even when there is no election,” he said.

The head of secretariat mentioned that they would request the ERA to accept the undertakings the candidates were making.
Dumisani Erasmus Masilela, the Commissioner-General of the ERA, said he did not have figures as the request for tax compliance certificates was an ongoing process. However, he said quite a number of people had issues with tax.

Masilela confirmed that they required anyone making an undertaking to honour tax obligations to show commitment by paying a certain amount as deposit. Asked to explain why they demanded payment of tax from people whose businesses never operated, the commissioner general said a company was a legal person in terms of the law. He said a person’s obligation was to pay tax.

“You are creating a person if you establish a company. The company must pay tax just like people,” he said. He pointed out that a director or directors of a dysfunctional company should submit financial returns even if the business recorded a zero income.

SIGN FOR FINANCIAL
RETURNS
“You have to sign for the financial returns reflecting that your business did not accrue any income,” he said.
He said the SRA would not predict that certain companies were not operating. “It’s the duty of the director to let us know,” he said.
Masilela then clarified that the undertaking to pay tax was a privilege for everyone, not specifically for people contesting the general election.  
Chief Gija, the Chairman of the EBC, said the mad rush for tax clearance certificates taught the commission and nation at large a very good lesson. The chairman said the mad rush reminded him of the Biblical 10 virgins - five were wise and five were not. He referred to the Bible that all the virgins waited for the arrival of the bridegroom. Chief Gija mentioned that the 10 virgins took their lamps with them, with the wise virgins taking oil in their vessels together with their lamps while the other five virgins did not realise that they had to also take oil in their vessels.
Realising that their lamps had gone out, the five virgins with no oil asked the wise ones to give them some oil, but they refused.
While the unwise virgins were away trying to get more oil, the EBC chairman narrated that the bridegroom arrived. He said the wise virgins then accompanied him to the celebration.
“The others arrived too late and were excluded,” he said.

RUNNING UP AND DOWN
“That’s exactly what’s happening now; we are running up and down trying to get tax compliance certificates, something we should have done a long time ago.” He said he was informed that the SRA urged people who wanted to make an undertaking to pay to consider putting upfront a deposit. He advised that the authority should, at least, say it would deduct the money from the candidates’ salaries or any of their income.
He insisted that they would not be experiencing this problem if people were accustomed to paying tax.
“We can’t include candidates in the ballot papers if they do not submit the tax clearance,” he said.
After a successful nomination last week, primary elections will be held on August 25, 2018. Those who win the primaries will contest in the final lap of the general elections – the secondary elections.
Secondary election winners are guaranteed seats in parliament. Bucopho nominees will not progress to the secondary elections as their race ends in the primaries. 
There are three ways of becoming a parliamentarian in the country. Firstly, the King appoints 10 members of the House and 20 senators. The House of Assembly appoints 10 senators to make a total membership of 30.
The rest of the lawmakers are elected by the electorate at the tinkhundla centres across the country.
There are 59 tinkhundla centres. Therefore, the House of Assembly, for the first time, will have 59 elected members. His Majesty the King approved the addition of new centres – Phondo, Siphocosini, Nkomiyahlaba, Gilgal and Mashayekhatsi.
Hlane and Dvokodvweni merged to form one Inkhundla.
In the UK, everyone standing for election pays £500 (E8 600). It must be said that 1 579 women against 4 907 men have been nominated for different political positions.  

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