Home | News | BREACH OF CONTRACTS COSTS ESWATINI MILLIONS – MP

BREACH OF CONTRACTS COSTS ESWATINI MILLIONS – MP

07/03/2022 09:10:00 Ntombi Mhlongo

Font size:

LOBAMBA – The country is losing millions due to cases of breach of contracts government engages in with companies.

This is a concern that was raised by chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and Dvokodvweni Member of Parliament (MP) Mduduzi Magagula in Parliament last week. Magagula singled out the case of a plan to construct a hanger at the King Mswati III International Airport, where the country ended up paying about E18 million to a South African contractor yet there was no job done. He said after paying the money, government then readvertised the tender for a new company to do the job.
Magagula said the current financial situation in the country was bad and that the little funds that were available had to be used for the intended purpose. “Government needs to explain what exactly triggered the cancellation of the contract. Paying extra costs for a contractor that ended up not doing any job cannot be tolerated. It is costing us. This is the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, it should not be a Ministry of Destruction on the Economy,” he said.

Terminated

He alleged that government might have terminated the contract because it wanted to award it to its own chosen contractor. “We have done our own investigations on what happened and soon we will bring up the issue here in Parliament,” said Magagula. During the same debate, Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini asked that government should present a report detailing donors that had helped the country. “The truth is that the world is full of money but we need to be strategic and see if what we get is enough. I feel that someone is sleeping on the job because we keep on going to one and the same donor. Give us a list of the donors we approached and the reason why we chose them,” submitted the Ndzingeni MP. He mentioned that in some neighboring countries, money to cater for the welfare of the elderly was sourced from donors instead of a consolidated fund. Mtfongwaneni MP Roy Fanourakis submitted that the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development was close to the hearts of the people but that just like the human heart, it was no longer ‘beating’ well.

He said there was a need to do an introspection to ascertain if the ministry’s priority was government or the people. “As things stand, there are many projects which prioritise government more than the people,” he said. The MPs also raised concern about the operations of the Micro-Projects Department.
Mangcongco MP Oneboy Zikalala said the ministry’s report reflected that the department had funds allocated to the COVID-19 fight and that it was not clear how they were used.
He said in his view, people became millionaires during the COVID-19 era.
He also asked that the prices charged by the Micro-Projects needed to be properly scrutinised to ensure that there was no misappropriation. “As much as the Micro-Projects Department is doing a commendable job, auditors need to follow every projects it undertakes using public funds. Auditors need to check why the projects are expensive because they are constructing anything fancy. They just use cement and sand,” he stated. Giving his responses, Minister Dr Tambo Gina first defended himself against submissions by some of the MPs that the ministry was not performing to the desired standards.

Gina submitted that when he arrived at the ministry, the Kingdom of Eswatini did not have a good relationship with the World Bank. He stated that the World Bank had not dealt with the country for about 20 years but that things changed when the new government came into office. “Today the World Bank assists a lot, even now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have so hard in poverty alleviation as well. When it comes to donors, we have policy documents that have all details. The policies guide us. Some of us are not the type who rush to the media to talk about what we have achieved. We just work to see success for the country,” he said. The minister also said that when he assumed office, there were issues with United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Wrapping

He stated that the organization was wrapping up its work in the country and government engaged the United States (US) and a solution was found, which saw the two parties signing memorandum of agreements. “Overall, we have raised a lot of money from donors and if we can calculate, toy can find that they have helped a lot in the budget,” he said. On another note, the minister responded to criticism of how the issue of residents of Sikhuphe who were not compensated for the construction of the King Mswati III International Airport. He assured that there has been a breakthrough on the issue. “As of now, all processes for the compensation have been finalised and approved. Our view as government, as mandated by His Majesty King Mswati III, is that we should bring development and not tears,” he emphasised.