MP insists on probe into Master’s Office
MBABANE – Mangcongco MP Oneboy Zikalala has once again called for the probe into the Master’s Office.
The Mangcongco Member of Parliament (MP) stated this in the House of Assembly yesterday. Zikalala stated this when the Speaker in the House of Assembly, Petros Mavimbela, was making announcements.
He said the Speaker had not updated them on the next steps regarding the Master’s Office probe, alleging that government funds were being misappropriated the longer this probe was delayed.
“We want the Ministry of Justice and ConstitutionalAffairs investigated. They instilled fear in you and were successful. I remind you that we want to debate this issue,” he said.
The Speaker, in response, said this matter was before the courts and, therefore, could not be debated at the moment.
Yesterday, the House ofAssembly adopted the Public Accounts Committee’s Recommendations on the Auditor General’s Audit Report on the use of funds in public schools for the financial year ended on December 31, 2018.
Motivating this motion, PAC Chairperson Gege MP Musa Kunene said a lot of funds were being misappropriated at schools and it was important that this report was adopted to allow for the continuation of the recovery of these funds. He said the AG’s Office worked with just five officials and required more funds in their budget to better execute their duties. “There are 900 schools to be audited but 47 were because the office is shortstaffed, this means a lot of money is being misappropriated,” he said.
The report of the Ministry of Health Portfolio Committee on the Health Bill no.1 of 2022, was yesterday tabled before Parliament.
This Bill contains the clause against the termination of pregnancy.
Meanwhile, Lomahasha Member of Parliament Ndumiso Masimula said the law was there to align the work of cooperatives and ensure that the youth got an opportunity to be players in the country’s economy.
He said this when motivating a motion moving for the adoption of the report of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade Portfolio Committee on the Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill no. 1 of 2021.
He further said this Bill would enable the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to review the high supervisory levies which co-ops have to pay, since FSRA is the regulatory body. Masimula said the levies were incredibly expensive and kill the cooperatives. “There are cooperatives that require assistance from the Rural Development Fund (RDF), however, societies cannot attain RDF if they are not part of co-operatives. This law will empower societies in the different communities to join co-ops in order to benefit,” he said. It was further stated that MPs worked extensively with co-ops in the different constituencies and there was a need for a decrease in the expense of the supervisory levies, due to fiscal challenges faced by the different co-ops MPs encounter.
Deputy Speaker and Mhlangatane MP Madala Mhlanga, who was the seconder of the motion, submitted that there should be a youth focus, to see to it that their needs were established. He said auditors who audited co-ops were too expensive and FSRAshould consider the reviewing of the cost, as most of these co-ops included societies from the communities, which could not afford the auditors.
Nkwene MP Philemon Vulimpompi Nhleko said at tinkhundla level, their plea was for societies to now be allowed to join co-ops in order to benefit under them.
“As we have established that you will not receive RDF if you are not in co-operatives,” he said.
Nhleko said he had been informed by one society that they had to part with E25 000 for merely being audited, demonstrating how expensive this was.