DID DEAD SOLDIER SELL STATE AMMO IN BLACK MARKET?

MBABANE – A soldier reportedly confided to a relative that he sold explosives and weapons belonging to the state.

He is said to have revealed that these were sold to some people suspected to be terrorists, three days before he allegedly committed suicide next to his work station. Speaking to Eswatini News, the relative, whose identity cannot be disclosed for security reasons, pointed out that the late soldier (name deliberately withheld) could have not killed himself because of the debts he had. Our sister publication, the Times of Eswatini daily, ran an article in which sources attributed the death of the soldier to suspected suicide due to an altercation earlier on that fateful morning.

The relative stated that they did not believe that the soldier took his life, and believed that there was foul play that led to his death. “Yes, we were aware that he had money problems but he had just bought a black corsa van with foreign registration and it was still with a mechanic, a few days before he died. It is not possible that he killed himself,” explained the relative.

The relative further alleged that one of his colleagues, who is also his friend, disclosed to some family members that the deceased could not have killed himself. “He told us that there must be some people who could have forced him to drink the poisonous substance and most suspiciously, he was left to die, a few metres from the tent they were drinking alcohol in,” alleged the relative.

According to another community member, the deceased used to come to the drinking spots in the Manzini region and would allegedly show them some things he called explosives.“We didn’t know what it was but when he was drunk, he used to warn us not to dare mess with him as he was carrying weapons of mass destruction. He also showed us a lot of bullets which were in his pockets.  It was during these drinking sprees that the deceased and his colleague would show us these explosives and even shared some army secrets with us,” alleged the community member.

Threatening

The relative said that they were with the deceased soldier at a drinking spot three days before the news of the alleged suicide.  “He confided to me and told me that his life was in danger as some of his colleagues were threatening to end his life. He told me that he was the one who was an armoury man at the workstation and they would allegedly collude with his colleagues to steal some explosives, service weapons and ammunition, to sell in the black market in effort to get some extra cash as they were all sinking in debt,” narrated the relative.

The relative further claimed that the deceased disclosed to him that the whole operation of selling the weapons in the black market was spoiled by the arrest of some people who were in possession of the explosives. He said the soldier feared that these arrested people would confess and expose them in the process. “He told me that is when his friendship with his colleagues at the workstation was ruined, as nobody trusted each other anymore and that is when threats emanated. Hence, we do not believe that our relative committed suicide due to baby mama drama but we suspect that there was foul play in the whole incident,” pointed out the relative.

Furthermore, another soldier who was interviewed by Eswatini News also corroborated the story of the relative and stated that there was no way his colleague could have committed suicide. “The situation between him and his baby mama was not that bad and couldn’t have been the reason behind his suicide,” said the soldier. Army Spokesperson 2nd Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo responded was contacted regarding this information and said they knew nothing about such. “The Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) would like to state that it is in no possession of the alleged missing explosives report, nor has the office of the public affairs been furnished to this extent,” she said.

However, impeccable sources within the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) disclosed that there is an ongoing investigation of a case where explosives were retrieved in Matsapha recently. This newspaper could not exactly establish if the explosives that were retrieved at Mbikwakhe were those the deceased soldier claimed to have sold in the black market.

The other narrative

Our sister publication gathered was to the effect that the deceased soldier had just returned from his days off when he ended his life while at his workstation. His close friends, who shared moments with him prior to his death, mentioned that the deceased informed them that during his days off, he had a misunderstanding with the mother of his child. The friends stated that the deceased informed them that the child’s mother demanded money and further embarrassed him in full view of the public, while at a local bank.

It should be noted that civil servants were paid early for January. They mentioned that the deceased informed them that not only did the baby mama demand money but she allegedly threatened him in the presence of her friends. At the time, the friends stated that the deceased informed them that the baby mama blocked his way while making derogatory statements. “He told us that he had a child with a woman who had other children,” said one of his friends. The friend stated that the deceased shared his story while enjoying some alcoholic beverages he had purchased for them prior to the incident. They stated that while imbibing the alcohol, they noticed a black plastic bag, which the deceased did not want anyone to touch or question him about.

“This created the impression that the deceased hid the poisonous substance in the plastic bag, which he did not want us to touch or ask him about, then we heard about his sudden death. He never indicated he was so stressed that he could end his life. We also had the idea that he was distressing because he consumed a lot of alcohol upon his return from his days off,” they said. The friend shared that the sad part was that the misunderstanding between their friend and mother of the child had resulted in a family man leaving his wife and children at the time they needed him the most. They stated that he was a married man and the death was also confirmed by his elder brother.

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