MBABANE:Army Commander Moses Mashikilisane Fakudze allegedly collects over three hundred thousand Rands(R300,000.00) annually, from financially broke soldiers as “sipheko sa-Commander”.
Financially struggling soldiers confirmed to this publication that, “they are forcefully made to collectively contribute ten thousand Rands(R10,000.00) or twenty thousand Rands(R20,000.00) as sipheko sa-Commander” depending on the number of soldiers, the seniority of the Barracks and the number of soldiers.
This money, when calculated with the number of Army Barracks in the country, amounts to over R300,000.00 per-year.
Reached for comments by this Swaziland News, Army Spokesperson Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo said, her Office was not aware of the matter.
“The Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) Public Affairs Office is incognizant of the supposed subject at hand.It would therefore be very futile for the Office to respond from an uninformed end”, she said.
But senior insiders within the Army told this publication that, Fakudze has been collecting the money for the past four(4) years after being appointed as the Army Commander.
“At Garrison Matsapha Barracks he was given ten thousand Rands(R10,000.00) but he rejected it watsi yincane ngeke Inkambu lenkhulu kangaka imuphe imali lencane kangaka, bahamba baphatsi baleyo Nkambu bayoyingeta masinyane bahlanganisa yatsi R20,000.00”, said a senior soldier.
Junior soldiers confirmed that, whenever Fakudze visits their Barracks, “they are made to contribute money as sipheko sa-Commander”.
On another note, the Army Commander who is now a subject of a royal investigation was exposed by this publication for allegedly looting about R20million monies belonging to soldiers and subsequently closed the Burial Fund that was assisting soldiers with “imali yekulila” amounting to twelve thousand Rands(R12,000.00) when visiting families to mourn the death of another soldier.
But apart from that,the Commander Fakudze has been receiving five thousand Rands(R5,000.00) per-week as “litiya la-Commander” from Hlalawati, a Saving and Cooperative Fund belonging to soldiers, the looted monies since Fakudze took over as the Army Commander, amount to about R1million.
Army Commander Moses Mashikilisane Fakudze.