MBABANE:Sabelo Elias Dlamini was dismissed as a member of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defense Force(UEDF) but his salary has been over the years, withdrawn by ‘ghost employees’ within the administration of the Army.
“I was then employed by the Ministry of Agriculture and when activating my name and Identification(ID) number in the Treasury Department Payment System, I was informed that my salary is still actively paid and I was shocked”, he said when speaking to this Swaziland News.
Dlamini said what was more suspicious was that, shortly after being informed about the alleged fraud, soldiers from the Army Headquarters arrived at his workplace-the Ministry of Agriculture with some papers, urging him to sign.
“The soldiers came with some papers and pleaded with me to sign and upon analysing the documents, I realized that they were trying to remove me from the Army payment system after years of collecting my salary and defrauding Government. This means the Treasury Department contacted them after the discovery and I don’t know who was doing this within the Army”, said the former soldier.
Army Spokesperson Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo said she was not aware of the matter but referred comments to the Ministry of Defense and State Security saying, the matter sounds administrative.
But Sanele Malambe, the Under Secretary in the Ministry of Defense was not immediately available for a comment regarding this matter.
It has been disclosed that, more soldiers who were dismissed are still appearing in the Treasury Department Payment System and “the money is cashed by alleged ghost Army administrators under Army Commander Moses Mashikilisane Fakudze”.
Sabelo Elias Dlamini was dismissed as a member of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defense Force(UEDF) but his salaries has been over the years, withdrawn by ‘ghost employees’ within the administration of the Army.