MBABANE:Bertram Stewart,the Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office is allegedly in possession of a message from an investigator of the Anti-Corruption Commission(ACC) where the law enforcer was demanding R250,000.00 bribe to sabotage the widely reported R20million COVID-19 high level corruption investigation.
This disclosure means,political interference in the operations of the ACC cannot be singled-out as the only hindrance in the fight against corruption in the country but, the Office of the Anti Corruption Commissioner(ACC) under the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional is also housing alleged corrupt investigators.
The message that is subject of an investigation by this Swaziland News suggests that,it was sent to Stewart while he was the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training.
Further communication suggests that,the PS did not pay the bribe to the alleged ACC corrupt investigator who was among detectives working on the case and, the investigation continued.
But the arrest of the PS was subsequently stopped by Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini.
Stewart,the then PS in the Ministry of Education stands accused of colluding with Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini, the then Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the National Disaster Management Agency(NDMA) to loot over R20million public and donated COVID-19 monies meant to assist schools,PM subsequently failed to account for about R180million as per the report of the Auditor General.
The name of the Anti-Corruption Commission(ACC) investigator cannot be revealed for now pending futher investigations in the multimillion sabotaged corruption case involving the PS.
Jabu Phakathi,the Spokesperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission(ACC) declined to comment when questioned about the alleged corruption with the State law enforcement agency.
But before conducting further investigation,this publication learnt about the message from sources within the Ministry of Education who asked this journalist to investigate further after this Swaziland News exposed how PM Russell Dlamini allegedly stopped PS Bertram Stewart’s arrest.
The PS,after receiving the message from the ACC investigator is alleged to have bullied some employees within the Ministry of Education, accusing them of reporting him to the Anti Corruption Commission(ACC).
“Bukani-ke labantfu leniye kubo bafuna imali nayi message”, the PS allegedly said when questioning some workers why they reported him
One of the employees told this publication that the Principal Secretary(PS)literally harassed them but later apologized.
“Mine phela ngagcina sengsolwa kutsi ngimi loye ka-Anti Corruption ngibe ngingawati nemnyango waka ACC kutsi unjani. The problem was that, he knew that some of us were aware of his corrupt dealings and he was questioning almost everyone trying to find out who reported him”, said the Government employee who was very close and witnessed the alleged corruption of the PS during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Principal Secretary failed to respond when asked by this publication about the looting of the R20million COVID-19 funds.
On another note,it is alleged that the investigation was later intensified within the ACC by other investigators until it reached the arrest stage.
But, Prime Minister Russell Dlamini allegedly stopped the ACC from arresting Bertram Stewart, this happened a few weeks after the PM vowed to fight corruption.
Reached for comments on earlier,human rights lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi said, the Prime Minister(PM) “is defying the King who commanded him to fight corruption” by stopping the arrest of the PS.
“Then you ask yourself;if he is defying his boss being the King who commanded him to fight corruption, what does this mean?”, said the human rights lawyer.
PS Betram Stewart.