By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: Prince Lonkhokhela, whose contract renewal request as Eswatini National Provident Fund(ENPF) Chief Executive Officer(CEO) was allegedly rejected by the King, might bounce back as politician or a member of the Governing Councils.

This is the view of a former prominent CEO who sent a message to this Swaziland News after reading  the story of the Prince on Monday evening.

“He might be appointed a Minister”, reads the message in part sent by the former CEO whose name cannot be revealed for ethical reasons.

A questionnaire was sent to the Provident Fund CEO, however, he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

It is alleged that the Prince failed to convince the King to influence the extension of his contract and as a result, the recruitment of a new CEO has commenced.

Reached for comments by this Swaziland News earlier on Monday, King Mswati’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane said, he was not aware that the Prince made efforts to convince the King to influence his contract extension.

But Simelane clarified that, the matter must be handled by the relevant authorities in the Government Administration outside the influence of the institution of the Monarchy.

“We are not aware that there were efforts to convince the King to influence his contract extension and that they were unsuccessful.What we are alive to is that the Monarch expects the authorities in the Administration of Government and quasi- Government institutions to deal with contract extensions within platforms where they are supposed to be ironed out and not to offices which do not have jurisdiction to handle them”, said the King’s Spokesperson.

Responding to a questionnaire from this Swaziland News, Mduduzi Gina, the Eswatini National Provident Fund(ENPF) Board Chairperson confirmed that, the contract of the Prince was coming to an end adding that,the recruitment of a new CEO has commenced.

“I do confirm that the contract of the current CEO of the Fund is coming to an end at the end of January 2024.The processes for the recruitment of a CEO are already ongoing”, said the Board Chairperson.