No Neal, no CBE audit

MBABANE – Calling for a new law to ensure the auditor general audits the CBE appears to be seeking something that is already provided for in legislation.

A motion, sponsored by Kubuta Member of Parliament (MP) Masiphula Mamba, demands that the Central Bank Eswatini (CBE) be subjected to an examination of its financial records by the AG, just like other state-owned enterprises (SOEs). It calls on the minister for Finance to table before the House, within six months of its adoption, a draft amendment of the Central Bank of Eswatini Order of 1974 to enable the Office of the AG to audit the CBE.

The minister was further to be called upon to submit a comprehensive report with recommendations on strengthening the legal framework on the audit of the CBE and on balancing the bank’s operational independence with constitutional accountability. He was also to advise the House whether the current arrangement, which the motion describes as excluding the Office of the AG, is consistent with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank best practices on the audit of Central Banks.

However, Section 51 of the Central Bank Order of 1974 already provides that the minister may, at any time, require the AG to examine and report on the bank’s accounts or any aspect of its operations. The bank is required to provide the AG with all necessary and proper facilities to conduct such an examination. This was pointed out in the House itself. The motion appeared on the Order Paper for the House of Assembly sitting of Wednesday, September 9, 2026, but ended up not being moved as Mamba was not in attendance. Minister for Finance Neal Rijkenberg was also not in attendance, with Minister for Housing and Urban Development Appolo Maphalala standing in for him.

While the motion was not moved, Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo rose to share what is referred to as a point of information. He informed the House that what the motion sought to achieve was actually provided for in the Central Bank Order of 1974.

Minister for Finance Neal Rijkenberg. (File pic)

On the same day, CBE Governor Dr Phil Mnisi appeared on Eswatini TV to provide clarity regarding the motion. The governor clarified the bank’s accountability structures and noted that the legal framework for an AG review is already in place, pointing out that Section 51, Subsection 4 of the Central Bank Order of 1974 (as amended) explicitly provides for this mechanism.

Despite this clarity, the mover of the motion is not backing down. Mamba has told this publication that the motion will neither be changed nor withdrawn as all it seeks to achieve is what is provided for in the supreme law of the land, the Constitution of Swaziland (Eswatini), 2005. He maintains that while the Central Bank Order provides that the ‘minister may authorise the auditor general to audit the State’s bank’, the Constitution is clear on what the AG must do in relation to the auditing of public bodies, including the CBE.

He said the Constitution is clear that the AG must audit all government funds, citing Section 207, which reads: “The public accounts of Swaziland (Eswatini) and of all offices, courts and authorities of the government shall be audited and reported on by the auditor general and for that purpose, the auditor general or any other person authorised by the auditor general shall have access to all books, records, reports and other documents relating to those accounts.”

In his view, the word ‘may’ in the Order means the minister can direct the AG to look into the CBE’s operations at his own will. As a result, he said, in almost eight years in office, Rijkenberg has not done what the Order provides.

The debate is playing out as Parliament considers the proposed Central Bank of Eswatini Bill, 2026, which will repeal the Central Bank Order of 1974 once passed and which, like the existing law, retains the AG’s oversight role over the bank despite introducing a strengthened external auditing framework.

Clause 70(7) of the Bill states that, without prejudice to the autonomy of the bank and independently of the external auditors’ activities, the minister may instruct the AG to examine and report on the operational efficiency of the management of the bank. This carries the oversight mechanism in the 1974 Order into the new legislative framework, although the Bill specifically refers to the operational efficiency of the management of the bank, whereas the existing law allows the minister to require an examination of the bank’s accounts or any aspect of its operations.

It must be said that the provision is significant because it maintains a role for the AG alongside the bank’s independent external auditors. The proposed legislation separately requires the Central Bank’s accounts, records and financial statements to be audited at least once a year by an independent external audit firm.

Such audits must be conducted in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing, with the auditors required to come from public accounting firms of good repute and recognised international experience in auditing major financial institutions.

The Bill also introduces auditor rotation, requiring the external audit firm to be replaced after serving no more than three consecutive terms.

While the external auditors would focus on the bank’s financial statements, the AG’s role under the proposed legislation would provide an additional avenue for examining the operational efficiency of the bank’s management when instructed by the minister. The Bill further obliges the bank to provide the AG with all necessary information and proper facilities when such an examination has been instructed, mirroring the existing Order, which requires the bank to facilitate an examination by the AG.

The distinction between the two functions is expressly recognised in the proposed Bill, which states that the AG’s examination must be independent of the activities of the external auditors. The proposed framework consequently provides for both independent external auditing of the bank’s finances and AG scrutiny of the operational efficiency of its management – continuity from the 1974 Order, which also gives the minister powers to call upon the AG, while placing the bank’s external audit arrangements under more detailed requirements.

If enacted, the Bill will therefore preserve the AG as part of the broader accountability framework governing the Central Bank, even as it modernises the institution’s financial audit requirements.

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