MBABANE:Derrick Shiba, the Inyatsi Group Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and newly appointed Eswatini National Provident Fund(ENPF) Board Chairman has been accused of pushing a secret agenda to ‘steal’ public funds and as a result, almost all the other Board members have decided to snub Board meetings pending his removal.
In a press statement sent to this Swaziland News on Wednesday afternoon by Business Eswatini, the organization for businesspeople and corporate entities confirmed that, “there are governance disagreements within the newly appointed ENPF Governing Board”.
The challenges were not specified in the statement co-signed by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland(TUCOSWA), the Federation of Eswatini Business Community(FESBC) and other workers and employers representatives.
But this journalist, after receiving the statement, made an effort to contact one of the ENPF Governing Board members to try and understand the context of the disagreement and the Board member stated that, almost all the other Board members snubbed meetings, demanding Chairman Derrick Shiba removal.
The Board member further mentioned that, “they want Cabinet to clarify who recommended Derrick Shiba to head the ENPF and who exactly is he representing within the ENPF Governing Board,” as all appointment must be for a specific representation.
“As you can see in the statement sent to you, ENPF is a Fund for workers and employers are contributing and therefore, we cannot keep quiet when dictating a threat to the workers’ monies. We want to know who recommended Inyatsi CEO Derrick Shiba for the appointment and who exactly is he representing within the Board?. The statement sent to you has been endorsed by Board members representing TUCOSWA, Business Eswatini, FESBC and the Federation of Swaziland Trade Union, all of us don’t want Derrick Shiba,” said the Board member.
Inyatsi Group CEO Derrick Shiba’s cellphone rang unanswered when this publication tried to reach him for a comment.
On another note, the ENPF Board of Directors said, they remain committed to acting in the best interests of the Fund members and will communicate and inform the Nation accordingly when dictating suspicious motives.
“The representatives of the Employer and Worker Federations on the ENPF Board remain committed to acting in the best interests of Fund members and beneficiaries and to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct and fiduciary responsibility. We will continue to keep our constituencies appropriately informed, mindful of the need to support an amicable resolution of the matters reported and to preserve the integrity and stability of the Fund”, reads the statement in part.
Newly appointed ENPF Board Chairman Derrick Shiba.