E-VISA SCANDAL: OVER 100 IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS TRANSFERRED

MBABANE – Internal investigations over corruption in the issuance of over 2 000 e-visas to foreign nationals have resulted in the removal of over 100 immigration officers at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Eswatini News has learnt.

Impeccable sources revealed to this publication that these removals, through re-deployment, were instituted during the ongoing internal investigation over the illegal issuance of over 2 000 e-Visas to 2 000 foreign nationals by the ministry. Further, the sources revealed that the ministry, a few months into the internal investigation, then issued transfers to the over 100 immigration officials. The sources further said some of the immigration officials were transferred to other ministries while others were re-deployed internally, but in positions far away from the processing of e-visas. “We have new faces everywhere but the ministry has said it does not mean that the re-deployed personnel are all implicated in the e-visa scandal,” said a top official within the ministry, who, however, preferred to remain anonymous.

Nationals

The e-visas were issued to a multitude of foreign nationals from a number of countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Somalia, India, Nigeria, Egypt, Congo and Cameroon. These foreign nationals were all destined for Eswatini; in fact more of them are reportedly still making their way to the kingdom. It has been reliably gathered that the foreign nationals are still being turned back at the KMIII International Airport at Sikhuphe.
Communications Officer Mlandvo Dlamini, when engaged by this publication, was quick to state that there was nothing sinister about the re-deployments and transfers which affected solely the Immigration Department. “Yes, most of the home affairs staff has been re-deployed into other posts and I must point it out that staff rotation is part of the ministry’s housekeeping measures. However, staff rotation has for a long time proved to be a deterrent to corruption practices within the civil service,” clarified Dlamini.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to complete its internal investigations into the e-visa scandal and heads are expected to roll. The communications officer revealed that soon the ministry would compile a report on the findings of the internal investigations and would be announced through the media in the coming weeks.  “The internal investigations are at the final stages, we will, in due course divulge details,” Dlamini pointed out. The effected staff rotations and re-deployments, according to well-placed sources, paved a way for the internal investigation in the illegal issuance of over 2000 visas to foreign nationals and Simelane said that no one had been charged yet.

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