Researcher4125: There is little public knowledge on the procedures and controls for the disposal of public assets. The Finance Management and Audit Act, 1967 does not speak to the disposal of state assets, but a section on asset management that includes procedures for asset disposals is contained in the Public Finance Management Bill, 2013. The breakdown of government revenue in the Government Estimates includes revenue accrued from the sale of goods and land, but this information is not broken down for individual ministries.

Researcher4125: No publicly available evidence was found to indicate that asset disposals are scrutinised by an oversight body of any form. According to an interview with a Finance official, the Ministry of Defence has not deposed assets in the recent past.

Researcher4125: According to an interview with a Finance official, there are no secret items relating to national security and military intelligence in Swaziland, and a review of the Government Estimates did not reveal any reported expenditure on secret items. No evidence was found of media speculation regarding spending on secret items relating to national security and the intelligence services. The country did not participate in the Open Budget Survey 2012.

The score has been awarded on the finding that there is insufficient transparency across the national budget and it is not presently possible to independently verify the government's claims.

Researcher4125: There does not appear to be secret items relating to national security and military intelligence in Swaziland. The Public Finance Management Bill, 2013 allows expenditure for defence and intelligence purposes to be classified, following annual approval by the Parliamentary Finance Committee.

Researcher4125: The reports produced by the Auditor General are provided to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to review on behalf of Parliament. The PAC then have the opportunity to question the Ministry of Defence on the AG's findings.

However, the quality of the debate is questionable. The PAC and Auditor General lack information on the regulations that govern the operations of the Defence Force and parliamentarians are reluctant to discuss issues in detail. The majority of the PAC's recommendations are not implemented by Ministries and there is no legal recourse to impose penalties on non-complying officials. The Public Finance Management Bill, 2013 (not yet passed by Parliament) seeks to improve on this arrangement by making controlling officers in each Ministry more accountable.

Researcher4125: There is no evidence that off-budget military spending is restricted by law. The IMF also notes that off-budget expenditures are consistently executed and are then regularised by the Swaziland supplementary budgets. Two sources interviewed were of the view that off-budget military spending did not exist in Swaziland, which may reflect normal acceptance of this practice.

In practice, budgetary control over the hiring of military personnel is limited and this incurs military expenditure that is not budgeted for in the defence budget approved by Parliament. Announcements on military recruitment are made mid-year without consideration of the budget that has been approved for defence personnel. Supplementary and future defence budgets then regularise this expenditure.

One clear instance is expenditure on fuel for government vehicles and vehicle maintenance (&quoute;CTA&quoute; - Central Transport Administration) which takes place off-budget for all Ministries, including the Ministry of Defence. The Auditor General reported that the Ministry of Defence had overspent by E42 million (162%) on CTA vehicle charges in the 2011/12 fiscal year.

Researcher4125: Budgetary control over the hiring of military personnel is limited and this incurs military expenditure that is not budgeted for in the defence budget approved by Parliament. Announcements on military recruitment are made mid-year without consideration of the budget that has been approved for defence personnel. Supplementary and future defence budgets then regularise this expenditure.

One clear instance is expenditure on fuel for government vehicles and vehicle maintenance (&quoute;CTA&quoute; - Central Transport Administration) which takes place off-budget for all Ministries, including the Ministry of Defence. The Auditor General reported that the Ministry of Defence had overspent by E42 million (162%) on CTA vehicle charges in the 2011/12 fiscal year.

Researcher4125: No evidence was found to indicate there are legislative mechanisms in place to regulate the classification of information on the grounds of protecting national security. Media and civil society sources indicate that information is classified at the discretion of the Government on the grounds of national security. This was the case in 2013 when the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) bought a range of new military equipment under much secrecy, as reported in the Times of Swaziland newspaper. According to media commentators, these national security considerations are not justified and have been labelled an &quoute;excuse&quoute;. There is no evidence of individuals or agencies persistently being able to influence decisions.

In the Public Finance Management Bill prepared by the government, defence and intelligence expenditure can be classified following annual approval by the Parliamentary Finance Committee. The importance the government attaches to national security was seen in the Suppression of Terrorism Act, 2008 which has been widely criticised for undermining human rights in the country.

Researcher4125: The defence force do operate several farms throughout the country, including Mdzimba farm, in order to produce food. There is no public information on Mdzimba Farm and its operations. The only sources link to a fencing budget allocation for the farm. It is in the vicinity of the Mdzimba Mountain Barracks, a part of the military, which may indicate that the farm is almost entirely geared towards sustaining the facility there.

The king, who is commander-in-chief and minister of defence, also benefits from Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, a company established and owned by the royal family. Research could not find any evidence directly attributing this to the defence force, however the fact that the trust does provide services to the military is evident. Tibiyo Taka Ngwane appears to be a stakeholder in the military farms mentioned above, and also holds shares in several commercial companies in the country. One such interest is a 25% stake in the Maloma Colliery, an anthracite mine.

Researcher4125: Research found no evidence of any significant commercial activity directly linked to the military, although its links to Tibiyo Taka Ngwane through the King are noted as there appears to be a separate risk in this area.

Researcher4125: No information was found to indicate there is unauthorised private enterprise by military personnel. Links between the King and Tibiyo Taka Ngwana and interests in all facets of Swazi society indicate some significant areas of concern. Research could not find any evidence directly attributing this to the defence force, however the fact that the trust does provide services to the military is evident. There is some risk that a loop-relationship can exist between the King, the trust, and the military, in that funding issued from one source inevitably benefits all three.

Researcher4125: In the past, Army Commander Sobantu Dlamini has publicly acknowledged that corruption is a problem within the army and expressed commitment to anti-corruption measures. For example, in June 2014, Sobantu Dlamini was quoted by the Swazi Observer, a state-owned newspaper, saying &quoute;we hate corruption and will do everything [in] our means to deal with corrupt elements within the army&quoute;, following the arrest of a lieutenant on corruption charges. In a speech in March 2014, the King, who serves as the Commander-in-Chief, warned army personnel to desist involvement in corrupt activities. The King has also mentioned corruption in high profile domestic speeches, among them the Speech from the Throne 2014, though not necessarily in relation to the Defence Force.

Beyond the rhetoric, there is little evidence to indicate there is real political or institutional will to curb corruption in the army and government at large, with the country ranked 82nd (out of 175 countries) in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2013. Key pieces of anti-corruption legalisation such as a Witness Protection Act are not in place and the Anti-Corruption Commission remains a government department with no constitutional status.

Researcher4125: Article 35 of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006 outlines the penalties incurred for people convicted of engaging in corrupt activities. However, no evidence could be found to indicate these measures have been implemented in the Defence Force, in terms of jail sentences for corrupt activities.

The Anti-Corruption Commission submits a small number of cases to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and suffers from a long backlog of cases that reached 362 at the end of 2011.

Researcher4125: There is evidence of the Prime Minister encouraging whistle-blowing to combat corruption. For example, in a regional SMART Partnership Dialogue in 2012, the Prime Minister was reported to have said &quoute;the culture of whistle-blowing should be revived in the country. This is the only way we can be able to fight the scourge of corruption&quoute;. However, there is no piece of legislation that protects whistleblowers from retaliation in the country.

Researcher4125: No publicly available information was found to indicate special attention is paid to the selection, time in post, and oversight of personnel in sensitive positions, including officials and personnel in defence procurement, contracting, financial management, and commercial management.

The Constitution requires the Army Commander and Deputy Army Commander to submit to the Integrity Commission a declaration of the assets they own or have beneficial interests in, though there is no evidence in the public domain to indicate this happens in practice.

Researcher4125: The number of civilian and military personnel that are paid is accurately known by the Ministry of Public Service, but this information is not released to the public. Through the Establishment Register, the public can obtain information on the number of civilian posts in the defence and security sector. The 2014/15 Register reported a little over 200 administrative posts in the Ministry of Defence. In July 2014, there were 5,300 civilian and military personnel being paid in the country, 500 more than in April 2012.

Researcher4125: Pay rates for civilian personnel are contained in the Establishment Register. Information on the pay rates and allowances of military personnel is not openly published. Salary information for military staff has been leaked to the local media on occasion.

Researcher4125: According to the interviewee, the payment system is well-established and routine, though these arrangements are not published and publicly available. Basic pay is non-discretionary and civil servants, including Defence Force personnel, receive their correct pay on time in the vast majority of cases. No evidence was found to indicate otherwise.

However, according to the same source, it can take several months for new civil servants to receive their first salary payment. The World Bank's latest Country Integrated Fiduciary Assessment for Swaziland indicated there can also be delays - in some instances more than 6 months - in making the correct salary payment to civil servants following changes in employment conditions.

Researcher4125: Loyalty to the current political setup important if you are to hold a middle and top management position in the army.The King appoints the Army Commander and other senior commanders but on what basis there is very little transparency. In 2013, the Army Commander, Sobantu Dlamini, was re-appointed as Army Commander, despite reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60.

Researcher4125: The recruitment and promotion of military personnel is characterised by a lack of transparency and no independent oversight. The local media has reported on a number of occasions bribes being paid for a job or promotion in the Defence Force.

Researcher4125: There is no conscription in Swaziland.

Researcher4125: There is no compulsory or voluntary conscription in Swaziland.

Researcher4125: No publicly available information indicated there are ghost soldiers. However, weak payment systems, as reported in the World Bank's latest Country Integrated Fiduciary Assessment for Swaziland, mean that it is likely to occur.

Indeed official Government documents, such as the updated Fiscal Adjustment Roadmap (FAR), acknowledge there are ghost workers in the civil service and media articles have also reported on the existence of such workers, though not specifically in respect to the defence sector. A public service payroll and skills audit that extends to the security forces was launched in July 2013 and is still ongoing.

Researcher4125: Chains of command are not linked to chains of payment in Swaziland. The salaries of defence personal are paid into their bank account by the Treasury and decisions on salary adjustments are taken by the Civil Service Commission following consultations between the Government Negotiations Team (GNT) and public sector unions. However, the Ministry of Finance has no control over the re-grading of salary scales and the allowances of military personnel - instructions on this come from the top ranks of the Defence Force.

Researcher4125: There is no known Code of Conduct for military and civilian personnel that is available to the public. It is possible The Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force Order, 1977, which is not in the public domain, provides some guidance though its usefulness for anti-corruption issues is likely to be very limited given it was written nearly forty years ago.

The Constitution contains a Code of Conduct that extends to the Army Commander and Deputy Army Commander only. According to this Code of Conduct, these officers should not engage in conduct that is &quoute;likely to lead to corruption in public affairs&quoute; or &quoute;likely to compromise the honesty, impartiality and integrity of that officer&quoute;.

Researcher4125: Civilian corruption cases have been brought against two senior army officers in recent years, including a Formation Commander in 2012. While this does show the Anti-Corruption Commission can hold the Defence Force to account at times, it should be noted that neither of these cases have been concluded to-date. It is possible that corruption and bribery cases have been brought to a military tribunal, but no information on this could be found. There is a Leadership Code of Conduct Bill (Bill No. 17 of 2009) that is still to be passed by Parliament.

Researcher4125: There is a Public Education Section within the (ACC) that is responsible for educating the public on anti-corruption legislation and the consequences of corruption. The Section is involved during the training of army recruits, according to the interviewee. In FY2013/2014, the ACC provided an anti-corruption training module to the Royal Swaziland Police Force.

Researcher4125: There is no known policy to make the outcomes of prosecutions publically available. While army personnel have been arrested for corrupt activities in the past, no information could be found to indicate these have resulted in successful prosecutions. The Swazi Observer reported in June 2014 that two years on, the case of a Formation Commander arrested in 2012 on corruption charges was still pending at the Magistrate's Court. The ACC's latest annual report indicates there are other corruption-related cases involving the Defence Force pending in court.

Researcher4125: Facilitation payments are directly covered within the definition of bribery in Part III of The Prevention of Corruption Act (2006), para 21. The Act does not distinguish facilitation payments from bribes. It also provides a basis for prosecutions to be made when offences have been committed.

In the past, army officers have been arrested for bribery in relation to recruitment. While these cases may not have resulted in dismissal or prison sentences, they are assessed as likely to have served as some deterrent to army personnel.

Researcher4125: The country has no known military doctrine addressing corruption issues for peace and conflict.

Researcher4125: No information in the public domain could be found to indicate commanders have benefited from anti-corruption training, nor is there evidence that corruption issues have been mishandled. The Public Education Section within the ACC is involved during the training of army recruits, according to the interviewee, though there is no evidence this is applied in the field.

Researcher4125: There is no evidence to indicate that trained staff are deployed to monitor corruption risk in the field. Swaziland does not contribute to UN peacekeeping operations.

Researcher4125: No guidelines are known to exist. Swaziland does not contribute to UN peacekeeping operations.

Researcher4125: No information was found to indicate there are private military contractors in Swaziland, nor speculation that they could exist. However, it is not clear whether or not there are regulations in place forbidding or regulating the employment of private military contractors in the country, as no source with this information could be found.

Researcher4125: There is no legislation covering defence and security procurement in Swaziland, since the Defence Force is not bound by The Public Procurement Act, 2011, the main piece of procurement legislation in the country.

Researcher4125: No information could be found in the public domain on the defence procurement cycle process. The Public Procurement Act, 2011 makes provision for the outcome of large procurement tenders to be published on the government's public procurement website, but to-date this website has not been established.

Researcher4125: The lack of transparency in defence procurement extends to oversight arrangements. The Public Procurement Act, 2011 provides for a Swaziland Public Procurement Regulatory Agency to establish independent oversight over public procurement, but this agency is still to be created. It is worth mentioning that the Defence Force is not bound by The Public Procurement Act. Article 4 of the Act states that &quoute;where procurement is related to defence or national security, the application of the rules and procedures set out in this Act may be modified&quoute;.

Researcher4125: According to a civil society source, no specific defence purchases are made public in any sort of detail by the Government, though information on aggregate total spend on the Defence Force is publicly available, as contained in the Government Estimates and reported in the media. While there are annual audit reports, defence purchases are not covered within these. Some purchases can come out through the local media or court cases, as happened in 2012 when the Defence Force was sued in the High Court for ordering equipment but then not paying for them.

Leaked US embassy cables also revealed a potential arms purchase in 2008. Media articles indicate that Government officials cite national security considerations for the secrecy, though media commentators have labelled this an &quoute;excuse&quoute;.

Researcher4125: There is no publicly available information to indicate that additional procedures and standards are required of companies to be able to bid for work for the Ministry of Defence or armed forces, nor that discrimination is made between companies on the grounds of integrity. The general law only states that tenderers and suppliers should not commit or abet corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices.

Researcher4125: There is no national defence strategy or policy in place that guides procurement requirements. There is no information available to comment on whether procurement is often opportunistic.

Researcher4125: While there is some information available on the needs of the Defence Force, it is sparse. Requirements are unlikely to be based on clearly identified and quantified requirements. A good example is the capital project on the Construction of Ministry of Defence Offices, where the total estimated cost has been increasing year-on-year. It stood at E76 million at the beginning of the FY2014/15, compared to E57million in FY2010/11.

Researcher4125: Article 44 of the Regulations on Public Procurement allows for single source procurement. A World Bank assessment of the country's public finance management system from 2011 noted that &quoute;justification for use of less competitive methods for up to 20% or more of all procurements is currently weak or missing&quoute;.

In terms of defence procurement specifically, single-sourcing in relation to food provision for the army who produce very little of their own food is a cause for concern. Tibiyo Taka Ngwane is the sole supplier of food to the country's Defence Force.

Researcher4125: The Tender Board considers tenders over E400,000 for goods and services and all work tenders. There is a code of conduct for public officers in the Public Procurement Act, 2011 which would extend to the Government Tender Board who are required to disclose any conflict of interests they may have in tenders.

Researcher4125: While the defence and security sector is not specifically mentioned in The Competition Act, 2007, collusive tendering and bid-rigging, as well as agreements to fix prices, are regarded as anti-competitive trade practices in the Act and are prohibited. A person who commits an offence under the Act and is convicted can face a fine not exceeding E250,000 and/or a jail term of no longer than five years.
No examples could be found of successful implementation of this legislation.
The government has also produced a Code of Ethical Conduct for Tenderers and Suppliers that states tenderers and suppliers should not &quoute;commit or abet corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices&quoute; and &quoute;collude with other businesses and organisations with the intention of depriving a procuring entity of the benefits of free and open competition&quoute;.

Researcher4125: There are no publicly available sources to indicate that defence procurement staff are organised into a professional staff department, that there are a sufficient number of staff, that there is control or oversight of defence contractors or that there is undue influence from higher grades of staff.

Researcher4125: The Public Procurement Act, 2011 provides mechanisms for companies to complain about perceived malpractice in procurement, which includes the establishment of an Independent Review Committee to review cases.

However, while there is no evidence to indicate companies believe it would be disadvantageous to complain, there are no publicly available sources to indicate that these mechanisms have ever been used by companies.

This is despite suspicions of malpractice in procurement, as revealed for example in both the Swazi Observer and Times of Swaziland newspapers in 2014 following the Government's suspension of a tender for the supply of uniforms to the security forces.

Researcher4125: A tender or supplier can be suspended from participation in public procurement for reasons that include corrupt, fraudulent, collusive and coercive practices, according to the Public Procurement Act. Suppliers on the Register for Tender Defaulters as prescribed in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006 are also suspended from participation in public procurement. Furthermore, convicted individuals who have committed offences are liable to a fine not exceeding E10 million and/or a prison term not exceeding ten years in the Procurement Act.

There is no evidence that these sanctions have been applied to the corrupt activities of a supplier operating in the defence and security sector.

Researcher4125: No information was found to indicate the country, including the Ministry of Defence, has signed an offset contract in the recent past. Outside of the defence sector, the government has signed loan agreements with foreign banks, such as the Export-Import Bank of India, whereby local firms are excluded from tenders that are reserved for companies from the loan country.

Researcher4125: No information was found to indicate the country, including the Ministry of Defence, has signed an offset contract in the recent past.

Researcher4125: No evidence was found to indicate that offset contracts are subject to competition regulation.

Researcher4125: There is no known policy on the usage of agents and intermediaries in the procurement cycle. Some parts of the Regulations on Public Procurement, 2008 refer to agents, which would seem to indicate their use is not forbidden.

Researcher4125: Arms deals in the country are shrouded in secrecy. No information on financing details are made publically available prior to or after the signing of deals. There is no arms budget line in the national budget that provides information to the public on how much the government is spending on arms.

Researcher4125: No legislation or policy could be found that requires the main contractor to ensure that sub-contractors and subsidiaries adopt anti-corruption programmes.

Researcher4125: Research found no evidence through SIPRI or any other reliable source that Swaziland has engaged in any major defence acquisitions in recent years. No evidence was found to indicate other purchases are according to military need however.

US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks reveal that the UK has blocked the sale of military equipment to Swaziland in the past. In December 2008, the Swaziland government had attempted to procure approximately US$60 million worth of military equipment, including helicopters, weapons and ammunition, from a British weapons manufacturer but this was blocked by the UK government because of &quoute;end-use concerns&quoute;, according to US embassy cables.

Civil society organisations, as reported in the media, are opposed to the high amounts spent on the Defence Force and argue that the function of the army is to suppress political parties and reform. Swaziland is not at war with any country and has friendly relations with its neighbouring countries, nor does it participate in any known peacekeeping operations. The Government has pointed to the need to maintain peace and security when justifying its military expenditure, which ranks 40th in the world as a proportion of GDP according to the SIPRI Military Expenditure database.