BY MBONO MDLULI
LOBAMBA – The E50 million budgetary allocation of The Luke Commission (TLC) is a product of Parliament, not the Ministry of Health.
This was said by Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini on March 25, 2025 at Senate. He was responding to concerns raised by senators, concerning the budget allocation to the TLC. This was during the adoption of reports of the 2024/25 annual performance debates and the 2025/26 budgetary allocations for Ministries.
When the report for the Ministry of Health was about to be adopted, Senators Princess Ncengencenge and Princess Temaswati stood up to raise their concerns. They wanted to know the rationale that was used to decide to give E50 million to TLC. Princess Ncengencenge wanted to know if there were agreements that were reached by Government and TLC.
The senator wanted details on the steps that were taken, if any, for the agreement to be reached. She said Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula had promised to table an agreement to senators, which detailed on the conditions under which the E50 million would be given to TLC. She mentioned that the agreement had to pass through many other Government departments, including the attorney general’s office, Standing Committee on Public Enterprises (SCOPE), before it could be approved by Cabinet.
The princess wanted to know where that agreement was. Senator Princess Temaswati wanted to know if giving this money to TLC was the right way to go. She asked this because it had been widely reported that many African countries, including Eswatini, had stopped receiving funding from the United States Aid for International Development (USAID). She wanted to know if the country would not be seen as one that had enough resources, as it was seen to be bailing out other institutions.
Senator Lizzie Nkosi also weighed in on the matter. She said as much as it was a good thing to bail out institutions like TLC. It could be detrimental to the Ministry of Health and Government because that E50 million could be needed for the Ministry to implement the most essential work that it was supposed to do. She mentioned that the need was more pressing now that the USAID had stopped funding countries like Eswatini. Nkosi said the Ministry of Health used to get about USD17 million, which translated to around E1 billion.
Senator Chief Zabeni Shiba wanted to know how that money was going to be accounted for when it was on the side of TLC. As the matter was discussed, it became clear that responses were needed from Minister Matsebula. However, he was not at Senate. According to Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini, Matsebula had indicated that due to some other national assignments outside the country, he could not be able to attend the session. Dlamini called upon Cabinet to help with responses, under the spirit of collective responsibility.
That was when the prime minister stood up to provide some clarity on the matter. He mentioned that it was Parliament that sent the Executive to ensure that TLC was given some budgetary allocation. He said prior, the allocation was given, but it was going to be once off, but now, the allocation was done because it was wanted by Parliament. He said at the moment, Government was working on an agreement under which the Ministry of Health would work with TLC. However, the premier stated that TLC did not want to be work under the same models as Good Shepherd and other health institutions.
