MBABANE:King Mswati is highly expected to receive another R40million alleged bribe from Taiwan for his consistent advocacy urging the United Nations(UN) General Assembly to recognize Taiwan as an independent State.
The eSwatini King is among Heads of State and Government officials who will travel to the UN Headquarters in New York on or around the 22-23 September 2024, to address the critical challenges and gaps in global governance,the Summit also aims to reaffirm commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Charter while enhancing cooperation and laying the foundations for a reinvigorated multilateral system.
State highly confidential documents seen by this Swaziland News suggest that, the Taiwan Embassy has already started processing the payment for Mswati and, the King is highly expected to continue with his advocacy urging the UN to recognize the Chinese Province as an independent State and worth-noting, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 of 1971 and endorsed the One China Principle.
Jeremy Liang, the Taiwan Ambassador to the Kingdom of eSwatini declined to comment.
It has been disclosed that, the funds will be allegedly disguised as a project grant for the King and previously, the money that amounts to $2million(about R40million), was disguised as a security upgrade grant for Mswati’s Palace when in fact, such projects for the King are fully funded by taxpayers through the Government.
But King Mswati’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane when responding to this publication earlier on the subject matter, denied that the money was a bribe.
“The letters in question conform to Government House Style for requesting for financial assistance from its development partners and we have no reasons to believe they were agents of alteria motives,”said the King’s Spokesperson.
Simelane did not clarify why the King now receives money from Taiwan for security upgrades when Parliament approved and released a multibillion royal budget.
A questionnaire was sent to His
But an insider who shared a highly confidential document, confirming the chain of communication between Mswati’s Government and the Taiwanese Embassy when facilitating the alleged bribe, told this publication that the King normally demand his payment shortly after returning from the UN General Assembly.
“As you can see in the documents, the facilitation of the payment was rushed because the King said he wanted his money urgently after delivering the speech. Previously the payment was US$1,000,000,00(about R18million), it was then increased to US$2,000.000.00”, said the royal insider.
Reached for comments on Saturday afternoon,Mlungisi Makhanya, the President of the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO), accused the King of manipulating the Sovereignty of the country to engage in what he described as “dollar diplomacy”.The PUDEMO President said Chinese President Xi Jinping announced $51billion(over R900billion) as fresh funding for African Nations to enhance development within the Continent but,eSwatini will be deprived those development opportunities because of a mere R40million allegedly paid by Taiwan to Mswati.
“We have an urgent duty as emaSwati to take back our Sovereignty autonomy and independence from Mswati who is abusing it to prostitute our Sovereignty for monetary benefits like it is the case here where the interest of the Nation is not prioritized but his interests are there ones that are considered. We have said Tinkhundla has been conducting what we call “dollar diplomacy” where diplomatic relations are established and maintained on the basis of payments to the establishment”, said the PUDEMO President.
The PUDEMO President said even if the money was disguised as a grant for development, the question would be; is it subject to accountability by Parliament and the Office of the Auditor General(AG)?.
Makhanya said monies received from development partners on behalf of the country must be declared and be accounted for, he noted that, the R40million “is normally paid straight to Mswati” without being declared or account for.
King Mswati.