‘WHY LEAVE OUT ESWATINI MOBILE AND EPTC?

MBABANE – “Why leave out Eswatini Mobile and EPTC?”

Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo directed this question to the Prime Minister (PM), Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, after the leader of government had left out the two other telecommunications service providers from his preamble.
EPTC is an acronym for the Eswatini Post and Telecommunication Corporation. 

This was when the PM was making his remarks about the e-Government Unit under his office.
The PM, in his written preamble, stated that the unit, in collaboration with other ministries had partnered with MTN Eswatini to introduce Mobile Money as another payment method for government services.

Improve

“This initiative will reduce queues at revenue offices, improve the ease of doing business and also improve the revenue collection,” said the PM.

He said the testing of the prototype had already started.  “Once the testing is complete, the service will officially be launched,” said Dlamini.

The premier further stated that governmen,t in collaboration with MTN Eswatini, had also successfully introduced the use of Mobile Money for the payment of school fees.

He said the initiative was piloted in six schools and was successful.
“The process of enrolling more schools to use this payment platform is ongoing between MTN and the schools,” submitted Dlamini.

He said there were currently 29 schools using the platform. He stated that 115 schools in total had already shown interest in enrolling with immediate effect.

In his written speech, the PM only wrote about MTN Eswatini and then in vernacular, outside of his written presentation, he then said the initiative was not just for MTN Eswatini, but Eswatini Mobile and EPTC were also encouraged to participate and forward their proposals.

MP Khumalo warned the PM that in future, he must also include the other  service providers because if the written report got into the wrong hands, then it would raise suspicion on why the others had been left out.

“You have only mentioned them off your written speech and this may be viewed otherwise by other people,” said the MP.
This was during the annual budget performance debate of the Prime Minister’s Office by the House of Assembly Portfolio Committee.  

Involved

The PM, in response, said he was involved at the beginning of this programme while he was still the chief executive officer at MTN Eswatini.

He said, however, this did not mean they did not encourage all industry players to participate.
He said it was government’s plan to digitalise all the services and they were doing this in collaboration with the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).

On a different note, the PM informed the MPs that through the technical support of EPTC, the Wi-Fi facility was now available in Parliament. He said, however, such a facility was accessed through a password to ensure that there were proper controls to avoid abuse. “The control systems are imperative to ensure that the facility is sustainable and less costly,” said Dlamini.

He said the principal committee clerk and network engineer were responsible for issuing the passwords and managing the facility.
Gilgal MP Sandla Fakudze said it was surprising that as MPs, they would only hear from the PM that there was now Wi-Fi in Parliament and that they had to go from office to office looking for whoever was responsible for issuing the passwords.

Important

Appointed MP Princess Phumelele said she had not heard anything about the Wi-Fi and that it was important that it was communicated to them, especially since they had to conduct research.

Meanwhile, Shiselweni II MP Strydom Mpandza said it did not make sense for MPs to be walking around Parliament corridors looking for an officer who would give them the Wi-Fi password. “I was further told that you can only access it along the passage and not even in the canteen so you expect us to cram the corridor,” he said.

The MPs said those tasked with giving them the Wi-Fi password should ensure that the MPs phones were automatically connected when they came to Parliament.

The PM further told the MPs that there were technical glitches and teething problems which required long-term solutions.
He further said Parliament was a very significant organ of the State and must radically transform and keep abreast with the fast moving Fourth Industrial Revolution characterised by digital migration and advanced use of technology.

Dlamini said in that regard, the Legislature had developed an e-Parliament Policy and Digital Migration Policy whose ultimate objective was to introduce a paperless Parliament which used technology to disseminate information.

Engaging

The PM said they had since developed an action plan which would, among other factors, involve engaging officers from the ICT ministry and e-Government Unit to develop a comprehensive e-Parliament Police.

He said they would also be developing a Parliament website in order to disseminate information and training of all parliamentarians in order to empower them to adapt to change towards a First World Parliament driven by technology.

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