Swaziland’s only independent newspaper the Times of Swaziland has hit out at the lack of government will in tackling corruption.
In a hard-hitting editorial comment published yesterday (26 September 2008) the Times accuses successive prime ministers in Swaziland of never intending to prosecute people for corruption. It is estimated that the government loses E40 million (nearly 6 million US dollars) each month to corruption in Swaziland.
The comment comes after the paper discovered that the re-launched Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been hampered in its investigations by uncooperative government departments. Some ACC investigators have been threatened with assault while carrying out their duties.
The lack of transport and hostility from suspects add to the problem the ACC faces tackling corruption.
Commissioner Michael Mtegha has admitted to the Times (26 September 2008) that he and his team are not moving at the pace they would prefer.
The present ACC was established by the Prevention of Corruption Act 2006. It employs about 30 people who started working in April 2008.
Mtegha told the Times it could not find adequately trained staff to mount investigations.
He said the ACC Investigations Department did not get support from government offices during investigations ‘and in some instances outright hostility and threats of bodily injury from suspects’.
The Times said that the ACC believed ordinary people needed to be educated about what corruption was and have set up a public education section to help in this.
‘The rural community perceives corruption from different dimensions,’ the Times reported Mtegha saying.
‘For example, if they lose a case in our courts, especially traditional courts, they immediately think that the court was corrupt and report such cases to the Anti-Corruption Commission. They are unable to discern what corruption is in the Prevention of Corruption Act.’
At present 23 cases of corruption are being investigated by the ACC.
In its editorial the Times says, that there were ‘outrageous transactions’ for King Mswati III’s recent birthday party the ACC should be at its busiest.
The paper said, ‘Swazis have been quiet for too long and to such a level that government thinks we are fools. We long dismissed the ACC as a farce but we were promised otherwise.
‘There is nobody in office today to answer for this as acting prime minister is globetrotting with the king, but whoever is to assume the role of Prime Minister should expect no holiday on questions regarding the (non) operations of ACC. There is no looking to the new MPs to help get this unit fully operational because if it were able to do its job from the beginning, some of them would not be legislators as we speak.’
No comments:
Post a Comment