Secrecy surrounds Swaziland Government plans to increase its spending on defence equipment more than 50 fold to E63.19 million (US6.8
million) this year from E1.26 million last year.
And, there are plans to spend another E66.35 million on
defence equipment in 2014/15 and a further E69.67 million in 2015 / 16.
The Swaziland Government, ruled by King Mswati III,
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, will not reveal what the money will
be spent on, citing national security as an excuse.
On top of the spending on equipment, the government
intends to spend a further E61.97 million on consumerable materials and
supplies in the Ministry of Defence in 2013 / 14. The spending in 2014 / 15 will
be E65.07 million, with a further E68.33 million in 2015 / 16. Last year
spending on defence consumables was E61.41 million.
Since the Swazi Government is not telling us what it
intends to buy with the budget, Swazi people are left to speculate on what it
could be. The budget for ‘durable materials and equipment’ could be spent on
anything from paper clips to tanks, but it is safe to assume that office
supplies are not high on the list of King Mswati’s priorities.
We know from activities in the past that the Swaziland
Government can get a lot of bang for its bucks. In 2008, it was revealed that
King Mswati had authorised the spending of E25 million to purchase ‘hundreds of
guns and millions of ammunition’, as well as ‘security gadgets’.
The Swazi News reported in May 2008, that assault rifles worth E1 million, pistols worth E500,000, bullets worth E14
million and E5 million of ‘security gadgets’ such as mine detectors had been bought
to protect the eight heads of state and other overseas’ dignities who were due
to attend Swaziland’s 40/40 celebrations in September 2008, to mark both the
40th birthday of King Mswati III and the 40th anniversary of independence from
Great Britain.
Of course, nobody believed such equipment was needed to protect
a small number of visitors. In the event, the celebration went off without
trouble, so we can assume that the equipment is still stored in an arsenal
somewhere in Swaziland.
Swaziland has been criticised for many years for the high
level of its defence spending, which accounts for about 6 percent of the
kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Last week, the Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland reported the Ministry of Defence was to be
allocated a total of E867.29 million for the 2013/14 financial year.
It said overall the government would spend E1.9 billion
on the three security forces: army, police and correctional services from a
total budget of about E12.6 billion. It said this was just over 15 percent of
the kingdom’s annual budget.
Mtiti Fakudze, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation, told the newspaper the budget allocation to the
Ministry of Defence was too small.
The Times
reported, ‘He said the department needed the money to beef up security of the
country.’
It added, ‘He could not disclose which areas needed to be
strengthened and how they would be fortified, because issues of national
security were top secret.’
The Times
reported, ‘The minister was quick to add that Swaziland was being menaced by
cattle rustlers who forcefully took stock from owners. He said among other
things more funds were required to deal with the issue of stock theft because
it was becoming a threat to the nation’s peace.
‘The minister said cattle thieves were on the rampage
along the country’s borders, where livestock is stolen and taken to countries
like Mozambique. He said the army, among other things is presently dealing with
this problem and it needed more resources to deal with this “war.”’.
Swaziland is in effect broke and has been struggling for
the past three years to come up with a recovery package that could revive the
economy. It has ignored advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to
cut its public service wage bill and to increase the amount of money it
collects in taxation. The IMF wants moneys to be transferred from capital
expenditure projects to help poor and disadvantaged people.
This week it was revealed that the Swazi government had sold US$3 million worth of maize donated by Japan as humanitarian aid to feed
malnourished people, including children. It put the money raised in a special
account at the Central Bank of Swaziland.
See also
SWAZILAND AND SECRET ARMS DEAL
SWAZILAND ARMY PREPARES FOR WAR
GOVT SELLS MAIZE DONATED FOR HUNGRY
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