MBABANE: Thieves are siphoning billions in public funds, literally. Rampant theft, this time of Government fuel at the Central Transport Administration is said to be so bad that officials at the Ministry of Works and Transport (MWoT) admit they are at their wits’ end.
This comes in the wake of a major crisis that has cost government billions from the theft of medical drugs at the ministry of health.
“We don’t know what to do anymore. It’s so frustrating because even when we catch them and suspend them, we see them back working among us in no time,” rues MWoT Principal Secretary Thulani Mkhaliphi. “It’s a problem that’s been going on for the longest of time,” he says.
Mr. Mkhaliphi was reacting to revelations by an investigative journalist who was photographed in the process of buying stolen fuel at the main CTA depot at Matsapha. He gave officials at the fuel depot an empty container and showed it being returned full after he paid E250, which is 50% of what he would have paid at a filling station.
The CTA is the government garage that houses fuel depots for the government fleet in all towns and key points such as police stations, the army and some government departments.
“It’s an old recurring problem that has been regularly reported. We have many cases of culprits being caught. Some of them have been arrested and prosecuted. But these cases are never concluded. We don’t have a single case where someone has been convicted and sent to jail for their crime. I recall a famous case almost 10 – 15 years ago when a syndicate was broken and its members arrested. To this day, that case has not been concluded.”
“Even civil servants who have been caught stealing fuel from (CTA), not a single person has been fired. We put people through the disciplinary processes. The culprits have been suspended while criminal processes are taken. But even these are inconclusive and the culprits end up back at work.”
About 10 years ago a large syndicate operated a scheme that diverted fuel intended for government depots to private filling stations. The culprits who included prominent businessmen were arrested, but the case was never concluded. Mkhaliphi says CTA suspended those involved in this case and sent them home for almost 10 years. Surprisingly, he says, they were reinstated in their positions without any action taken against them. “We are still working with some of them as we speak. There have been many of these instances.”
Mkhaliphi disclosed that they caught CTA staff red handed in a fresh case this year: “We became aware of a fuel stealing syndicate and alerted the police who caught them red handed. They still had the containers of stolen fuel in their hands.”
“Even though these culprits were suspended, they are back working with us because they are able to convince the disciplinary processes that while they are still suspects, they are innocent until proven guilty by courts of law. ”
Mkhaliphi says their greatest frustration are the slow court processes. They drag on for too long. We want these cases to be concluded so that those found guilty are sentenced. Right now, not a single person has been sentenced. They are all still suspects. We want those who are convicted to be fired. We are serious that this problem should end will leave no stone unturned and will knock at every door to make sure that all rotten potatoes that are in the system are uprooted.
Our greatest appeal is the plea that the courts conclude these matters and the culprits sentenced so that it becomes a deterrent and example of what happens to people who steal at work.
Mkhaliphi says the ministry is now placing their hopes on new technology to be installed next year which will install to track every drop of fuel throughout the fuel dispensing process.
Jm/today/26.11.2024
