MINISTER MANQOBA STOPS E1.2BN CYBER DEAL

MBABANE –Take note of this codename - ‘Project Harmonia’ – because it is most likely not going anywhere anytime soon.

Having been solemnised on November 22, 2019 by Minister of Information Communications and Technology Princess Sikhanyiso when she signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) - an Israeli government company (parastatal), this project is meant to bring premium cyber security infrastructure into the Kingdom of Eswatini.

The project is worth US$72 million, which is about E1.2 billion.

On the day the agreement was signed, government’s official twitter account wrote: “A Government-to-Government Cyber Security programme has been signed by Minister of ICT HRH Princess Sikhanyiso for the implementation of a robust, resilient and national cyber security framework for the Kingdom of Eswatini.”

little harmony

It has since emerged that Project Harmonia has brought little harmony between senior government officials, prominent private citizens and officials from IAI.

The Times SUNDAY has learnt from highly-placed sources that even at Cabinet level, there are divisions regarding Project Harmonia.

Some ministers are reportedly questioning whether the project had the buy-in of Cabinet and whether the agreement that was signed was ‘government-to-government’or between the Ministry of ICT and IAI.

However, some people who are working closely with IAI said those with misgivings about the project were economic with the truth because presentations were made to Cabinet in the presence of the then Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, and other ministers.

Project Harmonia, the highly-placed sources disclosed, was supposed to be included in government’s budget for the 2020/2021 financial year, but for whatever reason, this did not happen.

This has reportedly frustrated IAI whose officials were in the country to try and have the project kick-started through having government make a down payment of at least 25 per cent of the project cost.

This is said to have caused a serious rift between IAI, who were represented by the company’s Director of Marketing and Business Development, Roi Shaposhnik, and the Acting Minister of ICT, Manqoba Khumalo.

Princess Sikhanyiso, the substantive minister, has been on leave since January 2020.

down payment

Minister Khumalo is said to have explained to the IAI representatives that the project was not in the budget so there was no way it could be discussed or a down payment made. 

“Secondly, Khumalo told them that even if the project had been included in the budget, it would have to go through the government tendering system where they would submit their bids to compete with other companies. The company said it had signed a contract with the Ministry of ICT; however, they were told that this was not a binding agreement ,but some form of MOU. But IAI insisted, which they still do, that this was a full and binding contact,” one of the impeccable sources disclosed.

Suggestions were reportedly made by some senior government officials to have money reallocated to Project Harmonia from other projects under the Ministry of ICT.

However, this proposal is said to have not seen the light of day because the counter submission was that all monies had been committed to projects that were already ongoing.

Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku and Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg are understood to have participated in subsequent meetings with Khumalo and IAI officials to try and get to the bottom of the misunderstanding.

In the meeting where the Minister of Finance was present, he is said to have explained to the IAI officials how the government procurement processes worked and how budget reallocations were also done. 

“The minister (Rijkenberg) said as the person responsible for budget reallocations, he was not aware of a request from the Ministry of ICT regarding this project’s budget. The notion of budget reallocation is therefore a fallacy,” an impeccable source said.

Minister Khumalo is said to have told the officials that the project could also find itself not included in the 2021/2022 financial year’s budget because the agreement they claimed to have signed had not been to Cabinet. 

“The officials were told that there would be no payment of E1.2 billion without going through a tendering process,” said one of the highly-placed sources.

tendering process

IAI was reportedly told that the only time other companies could be excluded from the tendering process was if they proved that no other company provided cyber security technology they were bringing.

Minister Rijkenberg referred this publication to the Ministry of ICT when he was asked about the project.

“I can confirm though that no money has been paid to this company,” the finance minister said.

The meeting involving Rijkenberg is said to have left the IAI officials not pleased and later informed Minister Khumalo that the Israeli government was not happy at all with the way they were being treated.

Minister Khumalo, realising the potential that such could have in the relations between the two countries, is said to have decided to engage the DPM because the Prime Minister was already indisposed.

“The DPM told the IAI officials that he was not aware of any project that was called Project Harmonia. He said he was personally involved in the approving of budgets, but had never heard of such a project that would cost the country E1.2 billion. He said there was a constitution in this country which spelled out clearly how agreements with other countries were signed. 

He asked for the documentation from government sanctioning the signing of the agreement for this project. 

He said such agreements, in the absence of the constitutionally provided channels, was null and void,” disclosed one of the sources.

Masuku confirmed the meeting with IAI officials and said his main aim was to get an understanding of the project because he knew nothing about it.

“I didn’t know about the project. When they came, I didn’t know about it because being in my position doesn’t mean I know everything. It was the first time that I got details about it when I met with them. I am still to get more details from the relevant principal secretary. Problems will always be there and we have to solve them,” he said.

Asked how he did not know the project if it was presented to Cabinet and a government-to-government agreement had been signed, Masuku said there were many Cabinet presentations that were made by different cyber companies.

“When they came to me and said an agreement was signed, I wanted to get more details about that because the signing was not in Cabinet, but ‘ministerially’ through the AG’s office etc. We are pursuing this, it’s just that we haven’t had the opportunity because of the busy schedule,” the DPM said.

diplomatic channels

He said if the Israeli government was not happy about anything pertaining to the treatment accorded the IAI officials, such would be communicated through diplomatic channels.

“Foreign affairs will help us because government policy dictates that if it involves government-to-government, then it will be dealt with by foreign affairs. Minister of Foreign Affairs will be able to tell us if they had received information from the government of Israel expressing concerns on the treatment of IAI officials,” he said.

A locally-based representative of IAI said it was quite surprising that the DPM was now claiming not to know anything about Project Harmonia yet he was present in Cabinet when the project was presented.

“He was sitting next to the prime minister and there were four other Cabinet ministers present. The prime minister even asked about the cost of the project. This happened in Cabinet offices where the Cabinet meeting was properly constituted,” the representative said.

He said the project was passed by Cabinet and then it was allegedly agreed that because there was no budget for it at that time, it would be included in the 2020/2021 financial year.

huge delegation

“The late prime minister said in the meantime, the process of formalising that project would continue. That is why it continued and the huge delegation from Israel came to the country in November 2019. The late PM okayed the project and gave Inkhosatana Sikhanyiso the go-ahead to sign the agreement. The AG even cleared the agreement,” the representative alleged.

He said when the DPM met with IAI officials in parliament, Shaposhnik wanted to know what the hold-up was all about because a negative picture was being painted back home in Israel that Eswatini was not taking the project seriously.

The representative said the challenge with the current administration was the thinking that Project Harmonia was Inkhosatana Sikhanyiso’s baby yet this was a project initiated during the time of the previous administration led by then Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini.

“The genesis of the matter is that Barnabas was sent by His Majesty to Israel to deliver a special message to President Benjamin Netanyahu. He was accompanied by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Mgwagwa Gamedze, former Minister of Agriculture Moses Vilakati (now minister of tourism), and former Minister of Commerce Industry and Trade Jabulani Mabuza (now minister of agriculture). A high-powered delegation from Israel then visited the country afterwards and met with senior officials at Esibayeni Lodge where three themes emerged around pharmaceuticals, agriculture and cyber security, with the latter being quickly auctioned on. When HRH Sikhanyiso went to Israel in June 2019, it wasn’t on her personal visit, but a lot was involved,” stated the representative.

He said the current administration should not personalise the issue but should have the interests of the country at heart because there was a lot that was riding on the success of Project Harmonia.

He also clarified that the issue of the down payment that IAI had initially demanded had been addressed and the Israeli company informed that they would not be paid without work having been done and they reportedly understood.

Minister Khumalo, meanwhile, said Principal Secretary Maxwell Masuku should have the answers regarding the project. “He is the one who has the detailsbecause they are the ones who have been working on it,” the minister said.

However, Khumalo said he could confirm that the agreement that the ICT Ministry signed in 2019 was not approved by Cabinet.

He said the fact that a presentation was made to the PM and some Cabinet ministers did not constitute a Cabinet approval.

Cabinet approval

“A Cabinet approval requires a Cabinet paper to be written and the draft agreement attached. It is then deliberated on and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms knowledge of such if it involves two countries. All this is yet to happen,” Khumalo said. He said besides, Cabinet approvals were from MOUs and could not be confused with procurement decisions that should go through the tender board.

“We are looking at including a project on cyber security in the next financial year’s budget, but it will go through the normal procurement processes,” the minister added. 

Shaposhnik, the IAI official, said he would need to get permission from the Israeli Ministry of Defence before making a comment and then referred this publication to IAI Public Relations Manager Dafna Slyper who said she would also have to check with the Ministry of Defence first.

She promised to get back to the Times SUNDAY, but had not done so by late last night. 

In its website, IAI states that it was established in 1953 as Bedek Aviation Company - a governmental institute for aviation – and started out as an all-purpose service and supplies provider, specialising in air defence solutions. 

world leader

It is stated that in the decades since, the company has grown to become a world leader in both the defense and commercial markets, developing, producing and delivering state-of-the-art technologies and systems across a range of domains, including air, land, sea, space, cyber, homeland security and ISR.

It is further stated that cyber is a strategic sector for IAI, with the cyber business unit having developed unique solutions for cyber defense, protection, monitoring, prediction, identification, intelligence and accessibility. 

Solutions are said to include national-grade cyber early warning centres, cyber security for mission-critical systems, aviation and maritime cyber security, cyber intelligence, cellular search and rescue system, and critical cyber protection solutions. 

It is additionally mentioned that IAI leads the Israeli Cyber Companies Consortium (IC3), which offers end-to-end solutions for national cyber centres and comprises Israel’s foremost cyber companies; and the Israeli Aviation Cyber Companies Consortium (IAC3), offering cyber security solutions for the commercial aviation eco-system. 

Both consortiums were reportedly established under the auspice of Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Trade’s consortiums programme.

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