Was PM's hand in CPA fraud probe innocent?

This is an unedited version of an article published by The Times of Swaziland under the "As I See It" column on July 17, 2013.

By Vusi Sibisi

Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini in explaining his role in the investigations by the Anti Corruption Commission of alleged mismanagement of funds of the local chapter of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is attempting to clear his name of having politically manipulated the investigations by painting himself as an honest broker caught in the penultimate cross-fire.

The problem in believing this is that every one of us has a history, which history defines our actions. And similarly, the incumbent PM also has a history that defines how he has conducted himself in public office. Regrettably his record is one that no one, perhaps with the exception of himself, will be proud of. It portrays a scary picture of a man fixated with himself and would stop at nothing, by hook or crook, to have his way.

I should hasten that in no way am I trying to defend those incriminated by the investigations and hopefully they will have their day in court where they will prove their innocence or otherwise.

The PM’s stated position, and indeed participation if not facilitation, in the investigations might have gone exactly how he has explained it in his interview with the Times SUNDAY. But is the PM’s explanation enough to exculpate him from culpability and to remove the widely held perception of suspected political skullduggery on his part that is motivated by a desire to end the political life of one Marwick Khumalo, the long-serving Lobamba Lomdzala Member of Parliament. After all it is common knowledge that there is no love lost between the two political protagonists.

As I see it, the timing of the arrests of those suspected to have ransacked funds of the local branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), coming as it did in the middle of a general election, has naturally fueled the perception that the case was politically motivated to unseat MP Khumalo from parliament. As for the others, they are collateral victims caught in the cross-fire but still convenient for providing a false façade of the case to the public. MP Khumalo has been charged along with Senator Bhutana Dlamini, former Clerk to Parliament Sanele Nxumalo and Nompumelelo Zulu, an accountant in parliament, over the alleged misappropriation of E5.8 million from the local branch of the CPA.

Since the CPA case exploded into the public domain it triggered flashing images of some of the unsavoury cases that have a direct bearing on the incumbent PM, especially his discharge of the responsibilities and duties of his office. Needless to mention, some of his actions and indeed decisions did not augur well for the high office he occupied then and is occupying now.

The case of the forceful removal of the late Ben Zwane from the position of Clerk to Parliament at the instance of the PM has somewhat provided the unlikely backdrop to the current CPA case. That case was quite graphic in depicting the use or abuse of political power towards the achievement of certain goals and objectives. And it did not depict the incumbent PM as one who judicially exercised the political power at his disposal other than for settling personal scores with individuals he perceived to be his detractors and enemies. That, as the minister also responsible for the police, he unleashed the law enforcing agency to physically remove the late Zwane from the parliament precinct even though he was armed with and wielding a court order in the faces of police officers apparently unleashed to execute a political directive, showed that his ruthless streak knew no bounds. Not even the courts could stop him.

The Zwane case is one of many that were instructive in helping us to understand the man and his exercise of the political power of the office of the PM. These included the media, with this newspaper at one time being sanctioned with government advertisements while others were shut down for apparently refusing to conform under this very PM’s watch. Yet now, we are expected to understand and appreciate his actions in the alleged CPA fraud investigations as not having been purely apolitical but merely administrative towards enabling the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to do its work.

Just recently the PM somewhat acknowledged his typical disposition to using state power to deal with his detractors and critics when he informed lawmakers that government was keeping a record of all those who speak ill of and criticize government and the leadership. The intention of this was to punish those involved by, among others, marginalizing them from appointment to key public positions. God knows what other forms of punishment await those who make his list. That is why today we even see some pieces of legislation, such as the Elections Expenses Bill, that are manifestly targeted at certain individuals and political organisations to malign them from the elections.

As I see it, while the PM has explained how he came to write the letter to CPA headquarters requesting assistance to be extended to the ACC in order to complete its investigations, there is still that matter of the reshuffle of the parliamentary administration that saw then Clerk to Parliament Sanele Nxumalo being replaced by Ndvuna Dlamini. Could it be that decision was also at the instance of the ACC to enable investigations into the management of the funds of the local branch of the CPA? The answer to that question is, of course, a big no because the truth of the matter is that it was to allow the Auditor General to do an investigation.  In other words this action was pre-emptive to the subsequent investigation by the ACC that led to the arrest of the four suspects.

As I see it, the matter could have been investigated normally without creating wrong perceptions that it was targeted at someone, specifically MP Khumalo. Had this been the case, a normal investigation would have been carried out as soon as there was suspicion of wrong doing or criminality instead of invoking political authority that culminated with a reshuffle in the parliament administration.

And although some of us have long lost confidence in the judiciary of this country, hopefully the accused will have their day in court to prove their innocence.