UNDISCLOSED SERVICES COST E19.9M IN NEW PARLY PROJECT

LOBAMBA – Government has announced that the construction of the new Parliament buildings start in September 2024.

However, that does not mean there are no costs already incurred by the project. So far, a guardhouse has been built and some fencing of the project site has been done. Financial records indicate that government has, so far, spent E19.974 million on the project. It could not be ascertained which services cost the taxpayer a large chunk of the E19 974 000. It must be said that consultancy and other professional services are usually financed before the construction of the main buildings. The architecture of the main building is yet to be unveiled to the public. It has been established that the E19.974 million is the amount of money reflected in accounts closed on March 31, 2023.

Estimated

It may increase to E380 million by March 31, 2025, if the major constructions begin this year. The current estimated cost of the project stands at E1 837 750 000. Dr Tambo Gina, the Minister of Economic Planning and Development, confirmed that the building of the new Parliament would begin in September 2024. For starters, Dr Gina said a 500-metre road from Lozitha-Lobamba to the project site would have to be constructed to enable trucks to deliver material to the project site. He said the road would be built next month. Asked about progress on project site as only the fencing of the place was done and a guardhouse was built, the minister said it (project) was at a tendering stage. Dr Gina said the tendering was done internationally, adding that it was possible to also advertise the tenders locally.

Construction

The minister commented on the matter after Clerk-to-Parliament Benedict Xaba, had referred enquiries to him. The Ministry of Economic Planning and Development is responsible for millennium projects, under which the construction of the new Parliament building falls. The project is marked ‘G548’ in the government records for capital projects. In the current financial year, which begun on April 1, 2024, the ministry asked for E320 million of the loan obtained from India to kick-start the project. It also asked for E60 million from local funds, to support the construction of the main buildings, basic infrastructure services and professional services.

In an interview, Xaba said the construction of the new Parliament building ‘is under the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development’. He said Parliament was expecting to receive the keys. Xaba said they needed the project like yesterday. The clerk said Parliament and Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini were spending a lot of money on hosting workshops in hotels.

Completed

When the Parliament is completed, he said all workshops would be done in Parliament, as the building will have good conferences. He said the Public Accounts Committee ‘is currently struggling even now, as Members of Parliament (MPs) have to travel from far on a daily basis, without any compensation’. Officially opening the fourth session of the 11th Parliament, His Majesty the King said the country was also grateful to the Republic of India, for making the Parliament building project a possibility. He said the project came at a time when the country had embarked on increasing the number of constituencies, which now stand at 59 from 55.  

When opening the first session of the 12th Parliament, the King said it was critical that major capital projects and infrastructure developments be promoted, including the start of the construction of the Parliament building and data recovery centre. He said these projects should proceed. The financing of the new Parliament at an estimated value of E1.8 billion was handled at presidential level by India and Eswatini in 2018, the Times SUNDAY can reveal.

Chambers

In a communiqué meant for the people of India, which has been seen by this newspaper, former President of India Ram Nath Kovind, told a joint sitting of both chambers in Eswatini that his country would support construction of a new Parliament. The current President of India is Droupadi Murmu. She was sworn in as the 15th President of India on July, 25 2022.
The ex-president, the first foreign Head of State to address the Eswatini Parliament, told MPs of the 10th Parliament that India would offer both technical and financial assistance to emaSwati to build the new august House. Kovind served from 2017 to 2022.

There were concerted efforts, mainly behind the scenes, by some members of the 11th Parliament to object to the loan for the construction of the new Parliament on the grounds that COVID-19 has reversed a lot of the country’s gains. They complained that the country has not yet recovered from its economic abyss. The MPs, who later approved the loan from Export-import (EXIM) Bank of India with strings attached, had complained that the line of credit provided to Eswatini was unfavourable to the local economy, because the conditions were clear that 66 per cent of building materials should be sourced from India.  

Communiqué

Prepared by the Ministry of External Affairs in India, the communiqué indicates that Kovind’s declaration of support of the construction of the new Parliament was warmly received by ‘Members of Parliament’. This refers to MPs of the 10th Parliament. It has been established that the MPs of the then chambers gave the president an impression that they were approving the loan, such that an agreement between the two countries was reportedly signed. Formalising the agreement, a Government Gazette Extraordinary was issued, authorising the minister of Finance to enter into an agreement with the lender, for the purpose of raising a loan not exceeding US$108 280 000, the equivalent of E1.75 billion at that time, from the EXIM Bank of India to finance the project upon the terms and conditions specified in this Act and agreement.

The sum of US$108 280 000 is the equivalent of E1 949 040 000 at the current foreign exchange. The EXIM Bank of India is 100 per cent owned by the government. Meanwhile, the Indian Government pointed out in the document that Kovind further commended Eswatini MPs for their efforts in advancing His Majesty King Mswati III’s transformation of the kingdom into a developed country by 2022.

Conversion

He also promised that India would provide all support and assistance to the kingdom through the Eswatini Parliament, to ensure conversion of what he described as a noble vision into reality. It is stated in the document that during the State visit of the president in April 2018, he announced many projects, which included –

•  Line of credit of E1.7 billion (US$ 108.28 million) extending technical and financial support for construction of the new Parliament building of Eswatini;
• Line of credit of E160.26 million ( US$ 10.4 million) for establishing Disaster Recovery Data Centre at the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP), which itself was built under an earlier line of credit extended by India to Eswatini;
• Cash grant of E15.41 million (US$ 1 million) to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA);
• Donation of 700 tonnes of rice and 300 tonnes of beans for the NDMA;
• Medicines and medical equipment worth E46.23 million (US$3 million);
• Grant assistance of E6.14 million (US$ 400 000) for construction of irrigation infrastructure in Lubuyane in the Hhohho Region (underway after the release of first instalment of E3 million (US$ 200 000) in October 2019 and second and final instalment of E3 million (US$ 200 000) released on August 7, 2020).
• agreements

It must be said that two bilateral agreements were formalised in the presence of Kovind and His Majesty King Mswati III. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in Health Sector and an Agreement for exemption of visas for holders of diplomatic/service passports. In a special ceremony, the King conferred the highest honour of Eswatini, the Order of the Lion, on the former president, in recognition of the fact that he was the first Indian Head of State to visit the kingdom, and for acknowledging the contributions made by India for advancing Eswatini’s development agenda.

According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, His Majesty expressed confidence that Kovind’s visit would set India-Eswatini relations on a new trajectory.  The ex-president’s wife, Savita Kovind, made a donation of 500 blankets to Philani Maswati Charity Organisation and Khulisa Umntfwana Project, two charitable initiatives patronised by Her Majesty the Queen Mother, for helping orphaned children and destitute elderly people in the kingdom.

Credit-line

It was the King who received this donation on behalf of Her Majesty. On another note, the former president inaugurated the Information Technology (IT) Centre located in the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP). The IT Centre was built through a concessional credit-line of US$20 million, the equivalent of E360 million, from the Government of India.
The centre hosts the country’s National Data Centre and provides high-quality training and education in IT. It is understood that the former president expressed his satisfaction at the successful completion of the Indian project in the RSTP, and announced that India would provide Eswatini a new credit-line of E160.26 million, to help establish a Disaster Recovery Site for the National Data Centre housed within the RSTP.

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