FANTASY WATCH – KING’S JET MONEY

Here’s a new round of my game Fantasy Watch. This one involves the return of a deposit paid for a new jet for King Mswati III and the promise that E400 million (about 40 million US dollars) would be given to Swaziland for development projects.

In June 2009, I cast doubts on a claim by Swaziland Finance Minister Majozi Sithole that he had secured the return of a E28 million deposit on an ill-fated (and probably illegal) attempt to buy King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, a private jet from taxpayers' money.

Sithole had claimed that he had secured a refund of the deposit (believed to be E28 million) plus interest on the money, plus extra money from unnamed donors. A total of E400 million was said to be available for ‘social upliftment’ projects.

Part of the deal was that the Swazi Government would not be allowed to touch the money (by the government’s own admission about E40m a month is lost to corruption in Swaziland), but instead funds would be made available through a trust fund administered by Prof Frans Whelpton, of the University of South Africa.

I and others cast doubts on the whole project and wanted to know where the money was coming from. It was widely reported that a company called DAFIN Asset Finance Limited had a large role to play in setting up the project.

Now Sithole has admitted that Swaziland might not get the E28 million jet deposit back nor will it get the development cash (reported now to be E450 million, an increase on the previously claimed E400 million, which was itself an increase on the E100m originally stated. But that’s fantasies for you, they just keep growing).

The Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reports today (27 November 2009) that Sithole is in an ‘embarrassing situation’.

I bet he is. He trumpeted the triumph of getting the money for Swaziland and now it’s been revealed to be a figment of the imagination.

According to the Observer, the Swaziland Finance Committee reckons the whole thing has turned into a circus and the integrity of the people involved in the fictitious deal is questionable.

The committee wants Sithole and two MPs to go meet Prof Whelpton and DAFIN to find out what’s going on.

I’d save them the trip. I think we all know what’s going on.