MBABANE – In an interesting twist, the Eswatini Medical Christian University (EMCU) is proposing an amendment of the memorandum of agreement (MoA) it signed with the Africa Continent Mission (ACM).
It has been gathered that the university had expected around E200 million from the ACM.
However, when asked whether any donor funds were held in the institution’s sustainability reserves, the management indicated that there were none.
The university stated that no donor funds had been channelled into its accounts.
“We have already asked the Ministry of Education and Training to assist us with amending the memorandum of agreement so that we are able to use the money to build, because clearly the Africa Continent Mission has failed to raise the E200 million earmarked for buildings and infrastructure,” the university said when asked what plans were in place to improve infrastructure.
Further clarity was sought last week from the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training, Nanikie Mnisi, who said she believed the church should meet the cost of infrastructure development.
Her position is based on the 2013 Memorandum of Agreement signed at the time of the university’s establishment.
Under Section 11.3 of the MoA, the ACM committed itself to raising donor funds specifically for infrastructure development and equipment procurement. In contrast, Section 7 of the agreement stipulates that the Government of Eswatini is responsible solely for facilitating funding to cover administrative and operational costs.
“The church must step in, as per the original agreement. The government provides the subvention for operations, but the bricks and mortar fall under the church’s fundraising mandate,” Mnisi said.
The principal secretary further stated that the ministry was aware that the church had raised funds for the institution, but that the money was allegedly not channelled to the university.
She said the ministry had engaged the church on the matter and was awaiting its intervention to release funds for the university’s infrastructure.
Although the Ministry of Education and Training has a designated capital budget, EMCU is unable to access it because it believes that the MoA legally assigns responsibility for infrastructure development to the church.
As the controversy surrounding the university continues, a source close to the matter said that any proposal to review the MoA would have to be discussed jointly by government and the mission.
“The ministry or management cannot review the agrement unilaterally,” the source said.
The source also noted that it would be necessary to examine whether government itself had fully honoured all its obligations under the agreement.
The source claimed the amount of subvention EMCU has been receiving from government has been less than what is stipulated in the MoA. As a result, the source opined that it would be unfair to demand funding for infrastructure maintenance from the ACM under the current circumstances.
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