By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Sibani Mngomezulu,the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority(EIPA)allegedly wrote a letter to the Minister of Commerce,Industry and Trade Mancoba Khumalo warning him against involving King Mswati in the multibillion passport deal proposed by SEMLEX,amid allegations of corruption and/or bribery against the international company.

SEMLEX,a controversial international company that produces electronic passports,was allocated land by the King at the Royal Science Technology Park(RSTP) Special Economic Zone(SEZ)on or around the 17th April 2024 despite the fact that,the company’s reputation was highly questionable.

But now, documentary evidence has emerged suggesting that even before the King officially opened SEMLEX construction site,Sibani Mngomezulu,the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority(EIPA) Chief Executive Officer(CEO) wrote a letter dated 08 April 2024,warning the Commerce Minister against involving the Head of State with SEMLEX dealings.

“Our desk research has uncovered several allegations against the parent company SEMLEX GROUP INTERNATIONAL that warrants further investigations.In response to these allegations the group has stated to the international press that they are part of a broader defamatory smear campaign that is not grounded in truth. The substance of these allegations boarder around ongoing litigation with a number of Sovereign States, bribery,kickbacks,money laundering and corruption. The greatest of these is the sale of international passports allegations which has a compromise on national security, for instance,Comoros island’s government has been embroiled in these allegations”,said the EIPA Chief Executive Officer.

The CEO then warned Minister Mancoba Khumalo against involving the King with SEMLEX pending the investigation but the Minister approved the alleged highly corrupt investor.

“Taking cognizance of the listed information, we assert that the veracity of these allegations are yet to be tested through confirmation of sources of information from other parties, like Central Bank and INTERPOL especially that no arrests have been made yet. At least the current reputation of SEMLEX Group is marred by controversies and reputational risks and we assert that the stakes are high for Eswatini as a credible destination for legitimate investors from the international lenses.We believe that more information needs to be unearthed to validate innocence or confirm wrong doings of the company and its directors.Taking all this to account,we thus recommend a deliberate delay in involving the Head of State for a public event of this nature”, reads the letter in part allegedly signed by the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority(EIPA)CEO.

Efforts to seek a comment from the investor proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.

But King’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane, when responding to this Swaziland News earlier,refuted reports suggesting that,the King was aware of Semlex Director’s alleged corrupt dealings.

“We have no reasons to believe the King has a list of international suspects.He obviously has been appraised only about the company and surely not about each administrator's skeletons in their cupboards.The allegation appears to be not part of the investment deal,but that of Europe and the African countries allegedly on the receiving end of the raw deal in question.Eswatini has no record or literature on the alleged crime and is not about to pretend it does”, said the King’s Spokesperson.

Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo declined to comment about the matter while EIPA CEO Sibani Mngomezulu had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

But an online investigation conducted by this publication further uncovered another report by Reuters suggesting that,Albert Karaziwan,the Director of Semlex Group,has clear track record of engaging in corrupt passports manufacturing dealings in Asia and other African countries.

The powerful and politically connected businessman “is listed on Comoros Government database as having three(3) current passports".

The database,according to the Reuters report suggest that,his Belgian wife, Catherine Laurent, was issued with a Comoros diplomatic passport in 2010, and that their twenty seven(27)-year-old son, Alexandre, who works for an IT consultancy in Brussels, also has one, some Semlex Group staff were also issued with passports.

The alleged highly corrupt powerful and politically connected businessman who was in eSwatini on or around 17th April 2014 to launch his passport company.

Worth-noting the businessman is not a politician, a professional diplomat or a native of the Comoros but currently holds the three(3)Comoros diplomatic passports.

As a result, he managed to attend the United Nations(UN) General Assembly using a questionable diplomatic status.

Albert Karaziwan was born in Syria in the northern Israel and is a citizen of Belgium, he managed to penetrate the passport supply market through corrupt means such that his company Semlex Group, has supplied and made passports for the Comoros government and over a dozen of other African nations.

On another note,King Mswati when cutting the sod marking the official launch of the Semlex Group project at the Special Economic Zone(SEZ) at Nokwane on or around 17th April 2024 said, the establishment of a plant to produce passports in the country brings hope to the African continent.

“The setting up of a local plant for the production of secure identity documents brings hope to the African region for the localisation of highly specialised services which will further empower emaSwati on skills development,reduction of production costs for all secure identity documents.The advanced technology and rigorous security features embedded in these documents will ensure the integrity of our national identification systems,strengthen border control measures, and enhance the safety and protection of our citizens and residents”, said the King after being mislead by Commerce Minister Mancoba Khumalo to accept the controversial investor.