Swaziland’s Ministry of
Home Affairs had its electricity cut off on Monday (26 March 2018) because it
owes ‘millions of emalangeni’ on its power bill, a newspaper in the kingdom
reported.
It is not the first
government ministry in the kingdom to be blacked out because of unpaid bills.
The Swazi Observer reported on Tuesday (27 March 2018), ‘Operations at the ministry came
to a halt at around 9am.’
It added, ‘People had to
use phone lights to navigate through the dark offices and hallways of the
ministry and they had to use the stairs as the lifts were not an option under
the circumstances.’
The Observer reported, ‘A source asserted that the ministry owes millions
to the Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC) and it is for that reason that the
latter decided to cut the power yesterday.’
Principal Secretary in the
Ministry of Home Affairs Anthony Masilela told the newspaper, ‘If the power
blackout is caused by the ministry owing the Swaziland Electricity Company then
it lies with the accounts department because I did sign a cheque that was meant
to settle any outstanding balance with SEC and I’m yet to check with them on
what happened.’
Earlier in March 2018, it
was reported law courts, police stations, libraries, media houses, border posts
among others in Swaziland were disconnected of electricity because the
government had not paid its bills.
It was estimated that it
owed the SEC about E15m (US$1.2m). In total the Swazi Government owed its
suppliers more than E3bn.
The Times of
Swaziland, the only
independent daily newspaper in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III,
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported at the time power was
restored after a day but the government had not paid its bills but was
negotiating payment terms.
Finance Minister Martin
Dlamini in his budget speech on 1 March 2018 said, ‘Government arrears as on
February 1st, 2018 stood at E3.1bn.’ He added ‘Government, however,
acknowledges the accumulation of arrears to suppliers and has prioritised the
management of these.’
Services across Swaziland
have been grinding to a halt because suppliers have not been paid. School have
run short of food for children who rely on it to avoid
malnutrition; health
centres and hospitals have run out of medicines
and vaccines.
Meanwhile, the budget
included provisions for a E1.5bn convention centre and hotel and E5.5m for a retirement house for the Prime Minister Barnabas
Dlamini.
See also
CHILDREN ‘SHOULD PREPARE FOR STARVATION’
HEALTH CRISIS: BLOOD SUPPLIES DRY UP
MEDICINE SHORTAGE: FIVE DIE
DRUG SHORTAGE CRISIS DEEPENS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/05/swazi-drug-shortage-crisis-deepens.html
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