NEW PARLY BUILDING SITE REVEALED, E1.6M SPENT

MBABANE – Set to be built around Lobamba, the E1.6 billion new parliament building location had not been known by many, at least until now.

The Times SUNDAY investigation team set out a search for the site and located it at the tail of the field between Lobamba and Lozitha, just by the end of a spread of homesteads stretching from Nkhanini. The building will be located about a kilometre away from the newly-constructed road linking Lobamba/Ludzidzini and Lozitha overhead bridge.

The land has already been fenced and stretches across a flat ground estimated to be about 15 hectares. The new parliament building will be visible from the highway just before Lobamba exit on the left side from Manzini to Mbabane. A giant gate and guardhouse, estimated to be four metres in height and 10 metres in width, has been erected and a 24-hour security services hired to guard over the place.

When the Times SUNDAY team arrived, the guards refused to give permission to provide details of the land despite confirming that it was indeed the land marked for the construction of the new parliament.The construction of the entrance and fencing was, however, confirmed by the Prime Minister, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, when delivering a report on his portfolios in the House of Assembly on Thursday.

The Premier, in his report for the performance of parliament in the last financial year, said they were looking forward to the next financial year to continue with the building after fencing the land. He said construction of the new parliament had already begun.  

“Parliament has recorded significant progress on the construction of a new Parliament building in this reporting period. Parliament is working together with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, who are implementing partners. The erection of fencing of the site and construction of a guardhouse is now complete and construction of the building is expected to commence in the second quarter of the coming financial year,” said the PM.

Tendering

Acting Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development Siboniso Masilela confirmed the land as a true location of the new parliament. Masilela said the Ministry engaged a contractor through the official tendering and procurement process to erect the fencing and construct the entrance and guardhouse.
He said the contractor was also engaged to build the drainage system and the parameter roads around the site to enable people to find path.

“As you might have seen that the land was basically a field and people were using it so, we had to engage a contractor to do the preliminary works around to ensure that we create the paths and new roads around,” he said.
Masilela said he was not in a position to reveal the name of the contractor as he was not at work when called, but explained that the cost of the works done around the site were about E1.6 million. The funding of the project was sourced from India through the the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) extending a line of credit of US$108.28 million which translated to E1.6 billion.

The line of credit agreement for the project was signed between the General Manager of Exim Bank Nirmit Ved and the Finance Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Neal Rijkenberg. India is also involved in financing of new parliament in Burundi’s national capital Gitega and two ministerial buildings in Bujumbura, country’s largest city and main port. In the past, India was involved in the construction of the parliament building of Afghanistan, which was inaugurated in 2015 by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and PM Narendra Modi.

According to the latest Budget Estimates tabled in Parliament by Minister Rijkenberg, E150 million loan funds were made available for the construction of new Parliament in the next financial year, and E20 million local funds were also requested to support the construction of the new houses of parliament. Parliament received an original budget allocation of E108 817 223 and a supplementary budget of E11 700 000 within the financial year 2022/2023. The total annual budget received, therefore, amounted to E120 517 223.

The new Parliament building received quite a lot of critics from several formations and members of the public. They argued whether the building was a necessity compared to other national needs like procuring of drugs as they were often a challenge in the country’s health facilities. Despite the calls to stop the government of India from extending the loan facility for the proposed construction of the new parliament, Eswatini government insisted that there was a need for the new building.

In a joint statement issued by the Speaker in the House of Assembly, Petros Mavimbela and Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini, after the announcement of the project, they said the current building was inadequate and had to be renovated frequently at a substantial cost to government and this was not sustainable. They said the current parliament building was built in 1967, to accommodate a few parliamentarians before the country gained independence in September 1968. 

“Over the years, Parliament operations have changed and the building has not responded to these changes,” reads the statement. According to the latest Budget Estimates tabled in Parliament by Minister Rijkenberg, E150 million loan funds were made available for the construction of new houses of parliament in the next financial year, and E20 million local funds were also requested to support the construction of the new houses of parliament.

Parliament received an original budget allocation of E108 817 223.00 and a supplementary budget of E11 700 000.00 within the financial year 2022/2023. The total annual budget received therefore amounted to E120 517 223.00. Eswatini Parliament is currently situated in Lobamba and is a bi-cameral parliament, consisting of the Senate (Upper House) and the House of Assembly (Lower House). The House of Assembly has not more than seventy-six (76) seats and House of Senate has not more than thirty (31) seats.

In 2005, a Constitution came into force in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Section 95 (1) (a) sought to increase the number of Tinkhundla Centres to not more than sixty (60). A process to increase the Tinkhundla Centres began in 2017 and early 2018 they were increased to fifty-nine (59) in preparation for the General Elections in the second quarter of that year. Parliament is the legislative organ of the Kingdom of Eswatini. The Constitution of Eswatini Act 001 of 2005 and the Parliamentary Service Act provide that Parliament’s Controlling Officer is the Clerk of Parliament, who is accountable to the Parliamentary Service Board.

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