By Zweli Martin Dlamini

I once interviewed Majozi Sithole, the then Central Bank of Eswatini(CBE) Governor and former Minister of Finance about corruption and he said, “once the corrupt accumulate wealth through corrupt means,they will then use those stolen public funds to influence decisions in the public administration and hold ordinary citizens hostage”.

This was after the then Finance Minister disclosed that, the country was losing over R40million per-month to corruption, he was addressing Members of Parliament(MPs).

When I asked the Minister how he verified the accuracy of the information, he was not afraid to disclose that, it was through the banking system and today, Majozi’s Sithole’s disclosure with regards to the rampant corruption in this country has been confirmed and proven to be true and accurate.

Well, I consider myself as one of the luckiest journalists, the eSwatini Government persecuted me after years of practicing as a journalist and there’s little, that I am not aware of in this country, interviewing Majozi on this subject matter that is manifesting these days, was one of the greatest moments in my journalism career.

This is exactly what SwaziPharm Director Kareem Ashraff is doing in this country, he uses money to control the army, the police,King’s Protocol Officers, the Executive, Judiciary, media with a certain percentage of Members of Parliament(MPs) loyal to him.

Mswati is also Kareem Ashraff’s puppet, despite serious allegations of corruption within the Ministry of Health amid the shortage of drugs in public hospitals after the alleged corrupt capitalist looted public funds, a whole King driven by an appetite for money, was recently seen officially opening Kareem Ashraff’s companies.

Now, Ashraff is pushing for the reinstatement of removed Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the Royal Science and Technology Park(RSTP) Vumile Dlamini amid allegations of corruption, clearly, we have a puppet King who is controlled by corrupt and powerful capitalists.

But Mswati must know that, as Ashraff and all the alleged corrupt individuals around him continue to loot public funds without being held accountable, the blame will be shouldered by him and the institution of the Monarchy.

The Times Sunday reported that the Anti Corruption Commission(ACC) will soon arrest officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs for alleged corruption,it’s a whole nonsense to strategically target ordinary civil servants when we have powerful people looting billions of public funds.

But I am not suggesting that, ordinary citizens or civil servants must be allowed to engage in corruption, a culture of impunity must be eradicated.

In my view, the ACC is on a mission to regain credibility by targeting the powerless while taking orders from the most alleged corrupt individuals like Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini and Ashraff.

When I studied investigation, I remember being taught that the fundamental objectives of an investigation include among others, establishing facts to substantiate allegations of wrongdoing, demand accountability and act as a deterrence measure against impropriety.

Indeed,an investigation, in the context of the ACC legal mandate, seeks to gather evidence for prosecution purposes.

But, the Anti Corruption Commission should not only seek to achieve a conviction, the effectiveness of the institution in this regard, should act as a deterrent or sent a strong message to those who might think of engaging in corruption.

It should be noted that, corruption manifests in an intersection between politics and business and in this regard, it has been proven before the court of public opinion and, on a balance of probabilities that,the relationship between Ashraff and Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini is indeed, of a corrupt nature.

But the Anti Corruption Commission is busy with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs while capitalists loot State resources.

It’s not like some of us are not aware of what is happening within the Ministry of Home Affairs, those civil servants might be corrupt but, they are nothing compared to what Ashraff and other capitalists are doing in this country.

In conclusion, one wonders who is actually the King in this country between Kareem Ashraff and Mswati?.