Confidential documents show that the King’s own
company Inchatsavane
paid the US$9.5 million cost of the McDonnel Douglas McDonnell Douglas DC-9-87
(also known as an MD-87). Later, a further US$4.1 million
was spent on refurbishing the plane.
At the time of the purchase in 2012, the Swazi
Government maintained that the plane was a gift to the King from ‘development
partners’.
The Swaziland Government’s official spokesperson Percy
Simelane categorically denied that public money had
been used to purchase the King’s plane. He said, ‘A thousand times No’, when
asked by the BBC if public money was involved. Simelane claimed the jet was
given to the King by well-wishers.
Simelane said the development partners were,
‘people already involved in the social and economic development of the
country’.
Now, confidential papers never made public before
reveal some of the background to the plane’s purchase.
The Sale and Purchase Agreement for the plane dated
18 April 2012 stated the purchaser as Inchatsavane Company (Pty) Ltd. The
agreement describes Inchatsavane as a ‘limited company formed under the law of
Swaziland under certification of incorporation No 581 of 2010.’ The company’s
office address is given as ‘1st Floor, Ellerines Building, Swazi
Plaza, [Mbabane], Swaziland.’
King Mswati’s name appears on the document as ‘sole shareholder / owner’
of the company.
The seller is given as Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, National Association,
‘not in its individual capacity but solely as owner trustee’.
A Bank of America Wire Transfer dated 26 April 2012, shows US$9.5
million dollars was transferred from the account of ‘His Majesty King Mswati
III’, bank account number 0240037517401, at the Standard Bank Swaziland Ltd,
Stanbic House, Swazi Plaza, Mbabane, Swaziland.
The money was transferred to McAfee and Taft escrow account in the
United States. An ‘escrow’ account is a bank
account for keeping
money that is the
property of others.
Under US law funds wired to an escrow account must come directly from
the purchaser and not a parent, subsidiary, related company, officer, governor
or director. King Mswati personally signed the escrow agreement.
Seven days earlier, on 19 April 2012, US$10 million had been deposited
into the account of ‘His Majesty’, bank account number 0240037517401. The money
came from Salgaocar Swaziland Pty Ltd, bank account number 0240047831101, at
the Standard Bank, Mbabane branch.
Salgaocar had months earlier in June 2011 been granted a licence by King
Mswati to mine iron ore at Ngwenya. King
Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch,
controls all mining and mineral rights in his kingdom.
SG Iron Ore Mining (PTY)
Ltd was formed to run the mining business. Southern Africa Resources Ltd (SARL)
held a 50 percent stake in SG Iron. The Swaziland Government held 25 percent of
the shares and the King personally held 25 percent ‘in trust for the nation.’
Less than six months after operations began, King
Mswati, through his representative Sihle Dlamini, asked for and received an
advanced payment of US$10 million on the King’s future dividend. This was agreed
at a meeting of the Board of Directors of Salgaocar Swaziland held in Mbabane, Swaziland, on 16 April 2012.
The money was to be repaid from future dividends
payable to the King.
There was no public
announcement made that the King received the money which he held ‘in trust for
the nation’ and it is not known how he spent it.
Shanmuga Rethenam (popularly known as Shan), the
chairman of Salgaocar Swaziland, told Swazi Media Commentary in an email dated 31
March 2015 that neither Salgaocar nor any of his companies had donated the
aircraft.
Shan was however involved through a company called SG Air in
paying for the upgrades to the plane. This cost at least US$4.1 million. SG Air
paid the bills on behalf of the King’s company, Inchatsavane. SG Air expected
Inchatsavane to repay the money it spent, but allegedly this did not happen.
This is now the subject of a court
dispute in Canada. The King’s plane has been attached by the court
in the dispute over unpaid debts.
In April 2012 it was reported in the South African media that the money for the plane had come from
Kuwait. Reports quoted ‘Prince Omari Dlamini’, described as a ‘nephew’ of
King Mswati, saying the plane was a gift from Kuwait and it was not bought out
of public funds.
Later, the Swazi Government issued
a statement saying, ‘It is true that His Majesty
the King received a gift in the form of a Mcdonnell DC-9 Aircraft for his and
the Queen Mother’s travels abroad on engagement on national interest.
‘It is also true that the sponsors of this
magnificent gift, exercising their rights, elected to remain anonymous.
‘It is not true that the Kuwait Government or
countries and companies mentioned in the South Africa media purchased the
aircraft for His Majesty the King or contributed in any form whatsoever towards
this present.’
It added, ‘The Royal Household, Government and the
People of Swaziland do not know and have nothing to do with the so-called
Prince Omari Dlamini who has been quoted extensively by the South African media
as having said the aircraft is a gift from Kuwait.’
Now, in April 2015, King
Mswati is to buy an Airbus A340, with an initial insured
value of US$15 million. The insurance value rises to US$30 million after
refurbishments expected to take 11 months are completed.
As in 2012, the source of the funding has not been
revealed to the King’s 1.3 million subjects. Seven in ten of them live in
abject poverty, with incomes of less than US$2 per day, three
in ten are so hungry they are medically diagnosed as
malnourished and the kingdom has the highest rate of HIV infection in the
world.
See also
REVEALED:
COST OF FLYING KING’S JET
SWAZI
MPs CONFUSED OVER KING’S JET
REVEALED:
DETAILS OF KING’S NEW JET
KING'S
COMPANY AT CENTRE OF JET ROW
SWAZI
KING ‘REFUSED TO PAY JET DEBT’
SWAZI
KING’S JET HELD FOR UNPAID DEBTS
‘SWAZI
KING TO BUY US$44m PRIVATE JET’
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/04/swazi-king-to-buy-44m-private-jet.html
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