MPS ORDER UNESWA AUDIT, GIVE MINISTER ULTIMATUM

LOBAMBA - A motion has been moved successfully, calling for the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, to institute an audit investigation into the management of public funds at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA).

The minister has been given 30 days after passing of the motion, which commenced yesterday, to table a report on his findings at the tertiary institution. The motion was moved by Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini, who stated that the university had downgraded to junk status and was a shadow of its former self. The legislator said moving the motion was not meant to make fun of or disgracing the institution, but they were exercising their powers as lawmakers to play an oversight role if need be.

Dlamini said the university was of great value to the nation, so much that even the head of State was going there annually to bless graduates.
However, he shared that these days the university was nothing short of a camp for protesters as everybody, including the academic staff, non-academic staff and the students, were engaging in protests.

“The intellectuals that we entrusted to administer the university are obviously failing to carry out their duties. This is proven by audited statements, which were last made available two years ago and that means the university is not audited,” he said. Dlamini said the minister, as compelled by the Constitution, should table an audited financial statement of the university, but was not doing so, adding that the Auditor General, Timothy Matsebula, was not aware of the minister’s reasons not to adhere to the Constitution.

Pumping

This is despite that every year, government pumps millions of taxpayers’ money into the institution. “The responsibility to audit the funds lies squarely with the administration, which incidentally comprises of the most highly educated emaSwati in the country.” Dlamini highlighted that the institution was withholding pay-as-you-earn for its employees but not remitting same to the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS), finding itself in debts worth millions of Emalangeni. He said the most painful thing was that there were employees who were nearing the retirement age and would not have their pension available, owing to the financial situation at the university.

He shared that even employees who were paying medical aid did not benefit from same because there was no money contributed by the university.
He also highlighted that some employees were paying their credits through stop orders but, because of the financial challenges, they were going to jail for failure to commit to payments. “We are not targeting anyone but this is in the interest of transparency, hence we request the minister and the AG to launch the probe so that the report can unearth the rot that is going on at the university and clear the name of the institution,” he submitted.

Challenges

In his motion, the legislator moved that the House, in light of the reported financial challenges faced by the University of Eswatini and the resultant protracted industrial action in part, as well as on the basis of the conspicuous non-submission of annual reports and audited accounts by the Minister of Education and Training in terms of Section 28(5) of the University of Eswatini Act, 1983 (as amended), requests the Minister of Finance to institute an audit investigation, in accordance with Section 207 of the National Constitution, into the management of public funds at the University of Eswatini.
The seconder of the motion and Gilgal MP Kenneth Sandla Fakudze said once upon a time UNESWA was the pride of the country, attracting students from neighbouring countries and imparting the knowledge but that had changed.

He said that if parliamentarians would sit back and do nothing, while there were obvious challenges that included students spending more time outside of class in protest than they did learning, then they would be letting down the head of State, who is the Chancellor at the institution. All MPs who declared interest to make submissions on the motion supported it and they all had one common submission - that there was a lot going wrong at the institution and it needed to be unearthed and dealt with. Lomahasha MP Ndumiso Masimula said they had asked the ministry if there was a bailout plan for the university, but the response was not satisfactory. “We have all been disgraced as emaSwati by the falling of what used to be the region’s attraction. We need that institution because if well manned, it paints a very colourful picture about the country,” he said.

Unfolding

Mangcongco MP Oneboy Zikalala said he was once visited by concerned citizens from his constituency, who wanted to know why the legislators were quiet about the ugly events unfolding at the university because some of them were paying straight from their pockets, only for the students to spend more time outside class due to protests. Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo submitted that UNESWA had degenerated to levels below average and his biggest worry was that the university had become insolvent and it was only surviving through a subvention from government that was barely making a difference.

Khumalo asserted that the institution was a sorry sight, so much that none of its alumni were proud of it. He touched on the deficit of the pension that the university owed in millions, terming it horrible. “What boggles the mind is that the conduct at the university does not change as previously we thought the protests were caused by activism of the students but lecturers and non-academic staff have also become party to the protests.
“It is now on the verge of closure, one that will not be short and that is the danger of it,” he said. The legislator said the standards of the curriculum of the university had dropped tremendously and sharp students were not gaining anything but chuff in recent times.

He even made an example of an A student who attained straight As and two Bs from his constituency, once approached him, seeking assistance to enrol at a university in Botswana for fear that he would not get the desired results at UNESWA. Khumalo then requested the minister not to take the report to Cabinet but bring it straight to Parliament when it was ready for tabling.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: