Home | News | AUDITOR GENERAL’S EMAIL ACCOUNT HACKED

AUDITOR GENERAL’S EMAIL ACCOUNT HACKED

05/08/2023 08:09:00 Sabelo Ndzinisa

Font size:

MBABANE – Auditor General (AG) Timothy Matsebula’s personal email has been hacked by unknown people.

So serious is this issue that Matsebula has not wasted time in reporting the malpractice to to the relevant authorities, including Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg, Government Spokesperson’s office and the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). Matsebula not only confirmed the matter to the Eswatini News yesterday, but further said he suspected that the people behind this were linked to the probe into the theft of medical drugs at local health facilities.

For the record, Matsebula was mandated by government to institute a forensic probe into the theft of the medical drugs, a report which is yet to be released for public consumption. Unconfirmed reports are however suggesting that the probe report will be released in the coming days. The AG said he was alerted of the hacking by a former employee at his office, who is now based in the neighbouring South Africa. “A former employee in my office called me with a South African number, but at first, I did not answer and it was only after he sent a text message that I responded to his call. He told me that he was receiving emails I never sent from my personal email account and suspected that it (account) had been hacked. I also started receiving calls from my other colleagues at work informing me of same. The people behind the hacking of my account are circulating emails using my name with the hope of getting information. They are actually impersonating me and the concerning part is that there are many of these accounts that have been opened using my name to confuse people,” Matsebula lamented.

He was quick to state that he had reported the matter to the relevant authorities, warning his colleagues not to fall prey to what he described as a scam.
“These people are creating emails using my name and it is clear that they are looking for confidential government information. We are aware that there are people who are strongly against the probe into the theft of medical drugs and my suspicion is that they are behind the hacking of my email account. This is the same email account that I am using to store valuable government information and clearly, the perpetrators of the hacking are fishing for information,” he said. Matsebula said the intention of this act was to deliberately disturb the probe into the Ministry of Health operations, particularly the issue of medical drugs theft.

“It’s a wonder why people are not allowing the probe to be completed, so that we get the report of what is causing the shortage of drugs in public hospitals. I mean, the issue of medical drugs theft is a national concern and we are all affected by this. It, therefore, really boggles the mind why I am now their target with the hacking of my email account because as emaSwati, we should all be working together to find a lasting solution to the issue of medical drugs shortage. I am obviously their target because my office was assigned to launch the probe into this issue. They are targeting me for doing my job, which is unfortunate,” Matsebula said.

He explained that the decision to report the matter to his authorities was to ensure that all government officers are aware that his email account has been hacked and avoid sharing information with the users. “Besides reporting this matter to the police, I also informed the Minister of Finance who is my supervisor and the government spokesperson with the intention to ensure that the message is relayed to all those working for government. I cannot run away from the fact that this is putting my life at risk,” Matsebula said. Government Deputy Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli confirmed that Matsebula’s issue was reported to their office.

“Yes, we were informed that the auditor general’s email account has been hacked. Matsebula reported this issue because he wanted clearance from government to discuss it in the public domain. He was given the green light to share his situation with the public,” she said. Mdluli said it was a concern to them that the AG’s personal email account has been hacked as it contains personal and confidential information touching on government business operations. “Obviously, the immediate suspicion is that this could be linked to the probe of medical drugs theft by the AG but for now, all I can confirm though is that the matter was reported to us and the AG was given the green light to discuss it in public,” she briefly said.

Verify

Chief Police’s Information and Communication Officer Phindile Vilakati was contacted last night, but said she needed more time to verify if the AG reported the matter to them, at the time of compiling this report. The hacking of Matsebula’s email account comes hardly days after Rijkenberg announced in a statement that government was expecting a forensic report into medical drugs theft, with findings and conclusions that can be supported by independently verifiable evidence.

The Finance Minister stated that Cabinet, on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, met with Matsebula (AG) and representatives from Funduzi Forensic Services (Proprietary) Limited. He said the meeting was to assist government satisfy itself on the engagement process of Funduzi to conduct a forensic investigation into the supply of medicines in public health facilities. Funduzi was awarded the tender following recommendation by the AG in his investigation wherein, among other things, he reported that there was medication in excess of E150 million, which was unaccounted for. This company was recruited through the Eswatini Government Tender Board, and noteworthy is that during the course of their work, a consultant who was recruited by the company reportedly engaged in unethical behaviour. This resulted in some Central Medical Stores (CMS) seeking the intervention of the courts in relation to the consultants.

“Cabinet also needed to satisfy itself that the recent media concerns do not have any impact on the possible outcomes of the forensic investigation and that the process is not tainted with illegality,” Rijkenberg pointed out. The finance minister said he could confirm, based on information shared with Cabinet and his office that the office of the AG contracted this South African company (Funduzi), which tendered through its local extension company (using same name) following a procurement process approved by the Government Tender Board.

The minister further said the engagement of Charles Kwezera, who was an independent contractor to Funduzi, was summarily terminated after the allegations of his improper and unlawful conduct was exposed. Kwezera is the same person who was accused by some CMS employees of demanding bribes, allegedly to exonerate them in the findings of the investigations. On the other hand, Matsebula, in his proposal for forensic investigation on the notification of suspected irregularities as issued by his office on the acquisition and distribution of medicines to public health facilities, recommended that among other things, the Ministry of Health investigate the missing stock and unaccounted for medicines with the aim of recovering and report any unrecovered stock to the Losses Committee at the Ministry of Finance.

The AG reported that during the investigation, he observed that there was missing stock of medicines and or unaccounted for pharmaceuticals to the value of E18 793 823.99 in the fiscal years ended March 31, 2021 and 2022. Matsebula’s findings were that there was missing stock of medical drugs amounting to E5 977 042.11, which was made up of E5 848 589.89 in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 and E128 452.22 in the fiscal year March 31, 2021,as reported in the trading account.

In light of these findings, Matsebula recommended that the health ministry must evaluate the use of the Stock Record Cards and design controls to help mitigate the risk of misuse of medicines in the health facilities. capabilities to give a comprehensive view of the current stock in the facilities. Facilities should make follow up communications with CMS whenever an order has been placed. CMS should ensure that medicines are delivered promptly to the health facilities, since the medicines are for essential use,” Matsebula was quoted as saying by our sister publication, the Times of Eswatini earlier in the week. The Finance Minister also confirmed to have been informed of Matsebula’s issue.

“Yes, the AG did report that his account has been hacked and he requested that I inform the Prime Minister about it, which I have done. The other formalities like reporting to the police have to be done by him of course,” the minister said, without wanting to commit himself on the suspicions that this is linked to the medical drugs theft probe. Example of the emails: daspinki4466@gmail.com; chubnana10@gmail.com; sadathim16@gmail.com; oskar.ziemnior@gmail.com;