Inhlase

14/07/2025

On paper, Eswatini has no shortage of financial watchdogs. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), operating under a 1967 Parliamentary Order, scrutinises government spending. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigates financial crimes. The Auditor General audits public accounts. Yet despite this elaborate oversight architecture, billions in public funds remain unaccounted for, with far-reaching financial mismanagement characterised by a systemic culture of rogue financial behaviour—misstatements, unauthorised expenditures, and bank balance misalignments that persist year after year.
These bodies remain hampered by inaction and weak legal frameworks, despite consistent warnings of the dire consequences for the nation’s fiscal health and and international standing.

By Zwelethu Dlamini On June 27, 2025, Inhlase revealed how the Eswatini government is grappling with a decade-long accounting scandal involving E6.5 billion (E6,543,027,330.40) in unresolved discrepancies and misstatements. The investigation revealed a pervasive culture of financial mismanagement, w...

08/07/2025

05/07/2025

Numbers don't lie. Inhlase making good progress.

30/06/2025

Media Training on Multilateral Environmental Agreements Reporting

27/06/2025

For nearly a decade, the public accounts of Eswatini have been shrouded in a fog of financial irregularities, material misstatements, undisclosed liabilities, a pervasive lack of accountability and unauthorised expenditures, as revealed by a relentless stream of “qualified” audit reports from the Auditor General and the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reports. Billions of Emalangeni remain unaccounted for, with total misstatements reaching E8.44 billion in 2016 and E2.56 billion in 2024. This includes E155 million in fictitious assets and E645 million in undisclosed liabilities in 2024 alone.

By Zwelethu Dlamini  Part One: Eswatini’s multibillion Emalangeni accounting scandal For nearly a decade, the public accounts of Eswatini have been shrouded in a fog of financial irregularities, material misstatements, undisclosed liabilities, a pervasive lack of accountability and unauthorised e...

25/06/2025

New members include organizations probing cross-border abuses or promoting civic engagement, as well as digging into environmental and human rights violations.

24/06/2025

WE COULDN'T BE PROUDER
GIJN Welcomes 12 New Members, from Cyprus to Eswatini
Inhlase Centre for Investigative Journalism (Eswatini) was co-founded by two veteran Eswatini journalists, and serves as a guardian of truth and public interest accountability within Africa’s last absolute monarchy. True to its name (which means “spark” in siSwati,) the Centre acts as a catalyst for collaboration and investigative skills development in the small Southern African kingdom, while also sparking reforms through its courageous investigations into corruption, nepotism, and power abuse. It registered as a nonprofit in 2017, and now performs media research and media freedom advocacy functions in addition to its essential watchdog role.
https://gijn.org/stories/gijn-welcomes-12-new-members-from-cyprus-to-eswatini/