ICT MINISTER OUGHT TO HAVE RESIGNED

The Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Princess Sikhanyiso has come out to apologise for her protracted maternity leave which has been accepted in several quarters while some citizens are adamant that the apology does not suffice.

Despite the apology, there are continued calls for her to return the salary she earned beyond the three months maternity leave and the constitutionally permitted six months absence from work provided for Cabinet ministers. The ICT minister has been absent from work for 14 months. According to Section 68 (4) g of the Constitution, the minister is removed from office for misbehaviour or inability to perform the functions of that office. Section 72 then provides that the minister is only allowed to delegate her powers for six months. Legal experts say this implies that she either returns to work within six months, or if unable, tenders a resignation, or the prime minister makes a recommendation to the appointing authority to replace the minister.

None of this was done which places the minister, Parliament and the Office of the Prime Minister equally responsible for abdicating their duties and contravening the Constitution. This sets a bad precedent for the country, yet again, on matters pertaining to the implementation of our Constitution – the supreme law of the land.  The minister has suggested a review of the maternity leave period arguing that 12 weeks was insufficient, but she cannot justify this by breaking the law first.

This, and other precedents such as instructing the army to take over a private farm from its owner who is pronounced guilty before he is even charged or arraigned before a court of law to defend himself, are a serious cause for concern. The rights of the farm owner, who is now receiving death threats, have been violated.  This cannot go without holding those responsible to account.  The government spokesperson has declared that the ICT minister’s apology is ‘the end of the matter’ as if to suggest that an apology is now the official ‘get out of jail card’ for any other citizen or public office bearer who has breached the Constitution. If this is the value government attaches to the supreme law of the land, then we may as well conclude that our Constitution is not worth the paper it is written on and there is no law in the land of Eswatini.  A leadership that condones breaking of the supreme law of the land is a type of leadership we do not want to encourage.

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