ECSPONENT FORENSIC REPORT READY; MPS WANT TIMELINES

LOBAMBA – The eagerly awaited Ecsponent forensic report has been finalised, as revealed by Acting Minister of Finance, Manqoba Khumalo.

The minister gave an update on the report when responding to a question for oral answers posed by LaMgabhi Member of Parliament (MP) Sicelo Jele. The MP enquired if the minister of Finance could shed some light to the House with regard to the resolution of the 11th Parliament on the E340 million invested by emaSwati to Ecsponent, which was lost. Khumalo revealed that the ministry, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Eswatini, agreed that the latter would do a forensic audit on the loss of the money invested by emaSwati at Ecsponent.

Consultant

He stated that the central bank then engaged an appropriate and qualified consultant to conduct the forensic audit. Khumalo highlighted that the Ministry of Finance had actually received the report last week “The consultant requested to present it to the ministry this week and then next week, the central bank will take it to the minister of Finance, the principal secretary and the entire team, who will then determine the subsequent steps, which will include appraising Cabinet and eventually tabling it in Parliament,” he said. The minister explained to the parliamentarians that the main reason for the investigation and the report was for the emaSwati who invested their moneys to get assistance in getting their money back.

“When looking at the nature of the report, it was concluded that, indeed, it will come through in assisting emaSwati get their money back and they require the assistance of Parliament as they undertake the task at hand,” he said. Khumalo hinted that it might be tabled for public consumption, but this would depend on the nature of the findings, because there might be sceptic to make it public, as those implicated could find out before the law takes its course, and that could jeopardise the finalisation of the matter, one way or the other.

The terms of reference of the investigation included to find out whether Ecsponent, in the conduct of its business, placed clients’ investments into arrangements or investments that were of a higher risk, to find out if the management of investments made by pensioners and other members of the public and all legal entities were conducted by Ecsponent in a manner consistent with the risk profile liquidity needs and liability profile of the investments. Hhukwini MP Alec Lushaba and Jele wanted to know if the finalisation of the report meant that emaSwati were guaranteed to get their money from Ecsponent and they enquired on specific timelines on paying back emaSwati their monies.
However, the minister explained that emaSwati getting their money back would be determined by the nature of the findings of the report.

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