BY MBONO MDLULI
LOBAMBA – Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have raised serious concerns over what they described as “kuconyiswana ngetimali temaswati” (misuse of public funds) within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The committee observed that some officials who previously served in Eswatini’s foreign missions were either overpaid or unlawfully granted allowances. Despite these irregularities being flagged, the ministry has reportedly struggled to recover the funds.
A particular case that caught the attention of the PAC involved a former ambassador who received hundreds of thousands of Emalangeni as a subsistence allowance. The ministry’s controlling officer faced a challenging moment disclosing the ambassador’s name, who had initially refused to return the funds, citing unemployment as a reason. However, under pressure from the committee, the name was eventually revealed.
The PAC emphasized the importance of accountability and urged the ministry to strengthen its financial controls to prevent further loss of public funds.
