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MPS CHARGE E60 000 FOR A SENATE SEAT - NCUMBI

By Sifiso Nhlabatsi | 2018-08-31

Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Commissioner Ncumbi Maziya yesterday made startling allegations against members of parliament who he accused of selling senate seats for E60 000.

Among the tasks that newly elected MPs undertake after the election of a speaker is to elect 10 senate members.

The outspoken Maziya who has overseen two elections, said it had come to his attention that MPs engaged in corrupt tendencies and sell senate seats for E60 000 or more.

Maziya was addressing aspiring parliamentarians during a workshop yesterday at Prince Mfanyana Hall. Specifically, Maziya was addressing the issue of people who get elected to parliament through bribery and buying votes using alcohol and food.

He said parliamentarians are the most corrupt people. He said he has since gathered that parliamentarians are swindling money from people who want to make it into Senate. Maziya said he learnt that people are made to fork out money amounting to E60 000 if they want to get a vote to be elected into Senate. ‘’if you have no money you won’t make it into Senate,’’ Maziya stated. Maziya said he felt pity for the women who want to be elected into senate because they will have to fork out lots of money in order to convince the men in parliament to vote for them.

Maziya said blessed are those who know deep down in their hearts that they did not take any cent from anyone in a form of bribe. Yesterday, Maziya who was all out with guns blazing went on to address the issue of the irregularities which took place during the primary elections.

He made it clear that he has gathered that there was a lot of mischief in Manzini “Khona lokungahambi kahle kaManzini’’ Maziya stated in vernacular.

He said he learnt that there were people who were ferried in buses from the textile sector to vote in some areas around Manzini.

The commissioner said in some places he visited, people were bribed with beers in order to vote for people they didn’t even know.

The issue of people who had imbibed in alcohol and disrupted voters was an issue that was raised by most speakers and they even asked that during the secondary elections security must be tight in such a way that alcohol must not be allowed in the voting centres at all.

Maziya said according to his understanding people were supposed to go in the voting centres and vote after that leave the area

However, Maziya said the opposite happened as people wandered around the voting centres after they were done voting.

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