Swaziland's Prime Minister Dr. Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini: His assets include buildings, furniture, equipment, motor vehicles, livestock, cash at banks, insurance policies, shares in private companies, listed shares and unit trusts.
By Richard Rooney
Swazi Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini who was at the centre of controversy last year (2011) when it was revealed he bought Swazi nation land for himself at a price massively below its true value, has a personal fortune of E12 million (US$1.56 million) it has been revealed. Among his assets are E392,000 worth of shares in Swazi Empowerment (Pty) Limited (SEL), a company that in turn has a 19 per cent shareholding with MTN Swaziland, the monopoly mobile phone operator in the kingdom.
Dlamini is the man in charge of the government-controlled parastatal, Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) and is therefore a key decision maker in the affairs of Swaziland’s national posts and telecommunication. But now we know that Dlamini also personally holds shares in SEL which in turn has a major shareholding in MTN, Swaziland and the only competitor for SPTC.
This raises questions about Dlamini’s impartiality when making decisions about SPTC. In September 2011, when reporters first got wind of Dlamini’s possible share holdings in SEL, Musa Holphe, of the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Organisations, wrote, ‘Since SEL’s main, if not its only, investment is MTN Swaziland it is important to understand that the value of the SEL shares will be slashed if anything happens that affects MTN’s profitability.
‘This government has been at the centre of many decisions that affect the ability of SPTC to properly compete with MTN. ‘Each government decision seems designed to hamper SPTC and enable MTN to continue its monopoly and unfairly increase the wealth of its shareholders which as we now know includes the private wealth of the prime minister. “It is shocking to see how much money is generated by MTN and that, in spite of the grinding poverty of the majority of us; vast riches are still secretly flowing into the pockets of the elite.’”
MTN was also in the news last year when US Ambassador to Swaziland Earl Irvine accused King Mswati of interfering in the sale of shares of MTN – so he could buy them himself at a cheaper rate. Irvine wrote in a confidential cable leaked to WikiLeaks that the King also caused the ousting of Tebogo Mogapi, the MTN chief executive officer in Swaziland because he opposed the Swaziland Government’s ‘efforts to use the MTN network for surveillance on political dissidents’.
Dlamini was illegally appointed Prime Minister in 2008 by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Details of Dlamini’s fortune are contained in a statement of assets and liabilities that was submitted by the Prime Minister to the Swazi Integrity Commission last week, leaked to the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper. It reports Dlamini’s assets include buildings, furniture, equipment, motor vehicles, livestock, cash at banks, insurance policies, shares in private companies, listed shares and unit trusts.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of Swaziland’s one million population live in abject poverty, earning less than US$2 per day. Dlamini’s wealth maybe huge compared to the average Swazi person, but it is as nothing compared to King Mswati. He was estimated by Forbes in 2009 to have a personal net fortune of US$200 million.
Courtesy of AfricaFiles
SEL is the Swaziland Empowerment Limited to which all Swazis were invited to buy shares and indeed the response was overwhelming. Those who were financially stable including PM amongst others bought as many share as possible in their personal capacities.
It’s amazing how selective your reporting is. Have you forgotten Spirit Telecoms which the then ICT Minister was marketing with Labour Minister and SIPA CEO who subsequently became MD SPTC. This company was given, land and an international gateway rights amongst other privileges denied to MTN. MTN even then objected strongly but not against competition. They fought for equality and fairness in the licensing and regulation thus demanding, self provisioning and an international gateway and indeed for SPTC to divest from Swazi MTN as the whole Spirit Telecom deal was a gross violation of the JVA. An influential Swazi businessman and popular MP went against ethics to support Spirit Telecoms, selling out his own brother who was the CEO of Swazi MTN. Swaziland must demonstrate respect of Intellectual Property rights, Investors interest and protection thereof. Otherwise the world will indeed isolate this beautiful Kingdom. The King needs better honest advisers to support his good intentions.
What the Kingdom needs to resolve this impasse and show the world that it is safe to invest in the Kingdom, is to level the playing. In this case divorce fully not cover up the marriage between SPTC and MTN; grant SPTC and MTN a universal licenses which will allow all parties the same rights and privilege to provide all services Fixed, mobile, ISP and VAlue Added Services. Plus their own International gateway. The country businesses and consumers will be winners as these two entities compete fully in all areas. Having checked internationally MTN is already competing in some markets, I really see no reason why they would be against such. In my last visit to the Kingdom, it is a shame to see how outdated your communication sector is, even the poorest of African countries are so advanced nowadays. This therefore demonstrates how poor regulation and restrictive policies in a sector have deprived the Kingdom from providing an environment that will benefit Swazis and investors alike. Swazilands needs an effective regulator and competent personnel to manage this sector. What a shame as there so many shining Swazi champions that are setting records across Africa and the world particularly in the Telecommunications . Act decisively against corrupt individuals that are frustrating the telecoms sector in the legislature and business sector. Consult your own Swazi intelligencia to sort us the impasse. Phil Haise