MBABANE – A demand of over E20 million has become a new headache for the Council of the Eswatini Medical Christian University (EMCU).
Former Registrar Dr Bernard Dlamini, is now demanding to be paid in excess of E22 million by the university, as he claims he not only served it with diligence, but is also among those who co-founded it.
He is claiming an amount of fees he alleges are owed to him by the university for his stake.
Having submitted his demand to the council, as reflected in a copy of minutes seen by this publication, Dlamini escalated the matter to the King’s Advisory Council, Liqoqo.
Liqoqo is an advisory council whose members are appointed by Ingwenyama from the membership of bantfwabenkhosi (EmaLangeni), tikhulu (chiefs) and persons who have distinguished themselves in the service of the nation.
This publication has gathered that on Wednesday, the former registrar and some of the council members appeared before Liqoqo over the matter.
It has also been gathered that the council presented to Liqoqo that they could only pay the former registrar about E321 000, a proposal he has turned down.
The council is said to have argued that records reflect that the former registrar was only left with five months of his contract with the institution.
Dlamini is the same man who once took the legal route to challenge the institution for having removed him, citing that it was a Cabinet directive.
Dlamini claims that in January 2012, he was appointed by the then interim council as the first registrar ahead of another candidate who had been recommended by a professor from the University of Pretoria.
He alleged that the university commenced operations in January 2012 through a pilot programme by the University of Pretoria, and that he made architectural designs for the administration block.
Elaborating on his claims, Dlamini alleged that in August 2014, a day before the university officially started offering mainstream programmes, an interim council meeting was convened, wherein a pronouncement was made to the effect that government was desirous of releasing a E3 million subvention, but his presence and that of another member had delayed the process.
Dlamini said it was allegedly announced that Cabinet had issued a directive that he and the other member should vacate the university premises.
In documents seen by this publication, Dlamini claims that between the years 2006 and 2008, he held different positions at the institution, including project coordinator, project architect, secretary and operations manager, among others.
He claims that during the three years, he was entitled to a salary of E40 000 per month, which means that he is owed E1 440 000.
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