LOBAMBA – At least three Eswatini embassies and an undisclosed number of government ministries have opened secret bank accounts without the knowledge of the Accountant General, Nomsa Simelane, totalling almost E100 million.
The country’s embassies in Morocco and Ethiopia, as well as the Johannesburg Consulate Office reportedly opened bank accounts which were flagged out by the Auditor General, Timothy Matsebula, during the audits of various ministries for the 2024 financial year.
It was discovered that an amount of E91,131,940.27 was hidden in these accounts.
According to the Public Finance Management Act, 2017, all accounts opened by ministries must receive the approval of the Accountant General to enable their monitoring and reporting and by extension allowing the Auditor General to audit them.
The Auditor General, highlighted that this practice was not only unlawful but also distorted government accounts and encouraged the misappropriation of government funds, as the accounts were unknown and those who opened them did not account for their use.
Reacting to this anomaly, the Accountant General, Simelane, stated that when the matter was brought to their attention, they quickly disclosed the three embassy accounts but faced challenges with those operated by other ministries.
“The ministries did not give us access to the accounts. We wrote to the banks, but they also did not assist us. We have since written to the Central Bank of Eswatini as the regulator to assist us, as no one is permitted to open a government bank account without my knowledge,” Simelane said.
She further disclosed that she has assigned an officer to investigate other embassies as well, and they have already covered South Africa, Mozambique, and Ethiopia.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Vice Chairman, Manzi Zwane, asked Simelane what would happen to those found guilty of this anomaly. She disclosed that they would be charged with financial misconduct under the Public Finance Management Act.
She also mentioned that the Treasury Department is engaging with the Ministry of Public Service to ensure that only senior accountants are deployed to embassies. Currently, only junior accountants are deployed, which makes it easier for their superiors to pressure them into either opening these illegal accounts or failing to report them back home.
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