An independent magazine in Swaziland / eSwatini has
reported that absolute monarch King Mswati III and his family were allocated E1
billion for their spending from the national budget in the past year, but this
information has been kept secret from the public.
The Nation,
a well-established monthly comment magazine, said this came at a time when the
Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg said
the kingdom could not afford to pay public servants cost of living salary
adjustments.
The Nation
reported (March 2019) that expenditure on the King was controlled by the Swazi
National Treasury (SNT). Although the Auditor General audits SNT accounts each
year its report is not made public. The Nation
reported, ‘Audited statements of the SNT were removed from the public eye in
1992 when then Minister of Finance, Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, was stung by
numerous revelations of scandals of gross misuse of public funds by that
institution.’
Dlamini went on to be appointed Prime Minister by King
Mswati and held office for a total of 17 years.
Citing an SNT report, the Nation
said the E1 billion was ‘the entire budget for the royal households’
allocated for the financial year 2018 – 2019. The sum compares to the E2
billion budgeted for health; E1.5 billion for Defence and E1.4 billion for
Agriculture.
In Swaziland nearly seven in ten of the 1.2 million
population live in abject poverty on incomes less than the equivalent of US$3
per day (about E43).
Swaziland has been regularly criticised by the United
States for not revealing full details of the budget to the people. The U.S.
Department of State in its 2018
Fiscal Transparency Report reviewed the kingdom’s budget and
concluded that while budget documents ‘provided a general picture of government
revenues and expenditures, revenues from natural resources and land leases were
not included in the budget. Expenditures to support the royal family were
included in the budget but lacked specific detail and were not subject to the same
oversight as the rest of the budget.’
In
Swaziland King Mswati controls natural mineral rights. He holds 25 percent of
mining royalties ‘in trust’ for the Swazi Nation. The government also takes 25
percent. The Fiscal Transparency Report
stated, ‘Criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource
extraction licenses and contracts were outlined in law, but the opacity [lack
of clarity] of the procedures, which involve submitting applications for
licenses directly to the King, cast doubt on whether the government actually
followed the law in practice.
‘Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was not always
publicly available.’
The U.S releases annual reports on fiscal transparency for countries that receive its financial assistance to ‘help ensure U.S. taxpayer money is used appropriately’. It said Swaziland had shown no improvement in fiscal transparency since the previous report in 2017.
The U.S releases annual reports on fiscal transparency for countries that receive its financial assistance to ‘help ensure U.S. taxpayer money is used appropriately’. It said Swaziland had shown no improvement in fiscal transparency since the previous report in 2017.
See also
Swaziland King prepares for lavish birthday
celebrations, despite dire poverty in the kingdom
No
let up on poverty in Swaziland as absolute King makes public display of his
vast wealth
Swazi
budget a tale of woes
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