By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:A constitutional crisis was triggered on Thursday after eSwatini Prime Minister(PM) Russell Mmiso Dlamini publicly declared the constitutionally established Office of the Auditor General(AG) incompetent.

This is not the first time a sitting Prime Minister grounds State institutions through a statement,in 2002, the then Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini delivered the November 28 statement that triggered a judicial crisis after he openly declared that Government, will not respect decisions of the courts and subsequently, Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal resigned en’massely.

The then Prime Minister was subsequently fired by the King after the international community condemned eSwatini for castrating the judiciary while promoting a culture of impunity and disregarding the rule of law.

King Mswati sent Prince Senzangakhona Phesheya Dlamini,the then Attorney General(AG) now Supreme Court Judge,to dismiss the late Prime Minister, the AG opted to use a Short Message Service(SMS) when dismissing the PM after he avoided to attend a meeting where the King’s order was to be communicated.

On Thursday during a Breakfast Meeting with eSwatini editors at the Mountain View in Mbabane,Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini who was visibly angry,went on to cast aspersions on the Office of the Auditor General(AG)urging the public not to trust its reports.

The attitude of the PM towards the AG comes amid consistent independent media reports, demanding accountability of the missing R210million as per the reports of the Auditor General(AG).

It has been reported that,the PM was also plotting to manipulate the Anti-Corruption Commission(ACC) and arrest Auditor General(AG) Timothy Matsebula for demanding accountability of the missing public monies.

But the Prime Minister made the declaration saying the reports compiled by the AG cannot be relied on after being questioned by Bheki Makhubu,the editor of the Nation Magazine regarding the missing public and donated funds.

In the various reports,the AG concluded that the Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini,while serving as the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the National Disaster Management Agency(NDMA) failed to account for about R180million and R30million respectively.

“It is important that we have to begin to look at whether the reports of the Auditor General can now be relied upon. Yes I’m saying that, just hold on, just listen you need to listen to that.We now have to work on whether the reports of the Auditor General can be relied upon.Let me give you an example;the country now understands that there’s R180million missing from NDMA, there was never R180million that is missing. Now he has actually said, there’s another R30million,so people have began to write about R210million,all that is false I can surely tell you, it is false and in fact it points to the incompetence in that office”,said the Prime Minister(PM).

On another note,the declaration of the Auditor General’s incompetency suggests that, the Public Accounts Committee(PAC) whose duty is to enforce or demand accountability of public funds as per the reports of the AG, might be disbanded.

Both the Office of the Auditor General(AG) and the PAC are established in terms of the Constitution and it remains unclear if Parliament will continue to enforce reports of the Auditor General(AG) that have been declared incompetent by the Head of Government.

The PM previously labelled Parliament ‘eShashalazini’ when questioned about the missing public funds,he said he won’t be able to explain the circumstances surrounding the missing millions in eShashalazini(an open area) thus demonstrating absolute disregard of State institutions established in terms of the Constitution.

The eSwatini Prime Minister was not elected by the people but,he was appointed by King Mswati,an absolute Monarch.

But it remains to be seen how the country’s international partners and donors who pump-in money, some that disappeared unaccounted for, will react to the Prime Minister’s decision to declare the Office of the Auditor General(AG) incompetent merely for demanding accountability of the donated and public funds.