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Lidlelantfongeni Chief Executive Officer Prince Lonkhokhela appointed into Senate

Pictured Above: Prince Lonkhokhela (picture courtesy: ENPF.co.sz)

Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze

 The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the premier social security scheme in Eswatini the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) Prince Lonkhokhela has been appointed into Eswatini's Senate by King Mswati III. Prince Lonkhokhela was appointed together with 19 other individuals into the senate including former Finance Minister Neal Rekjernberg and former leader of Swaziland National Association of Civil Servants (SNACS) who lately had focused her efforts in championing minority rights, Stucky Motsa.

At the time of his appointment into the Senate Prince Lonkhokhela had served as the CEO of the ENPF for around 20 years.

The appointment of Prince Lonkhokhela into Senate comes at a time when the ENPF had engaged in processes to find a replacement CEO since the Prince had reached retirement age and was now being engaged on a renewable contract basis pending the hiring of a new CEO. It is worth mentioning that the process to find a CEO had been shrouded in controversy that led many to believe that the controversies were meant to ensure that the Prince continued in the position because the controversies delayed the hiring of a substantive CEO all the time. One of the controversies entailed the fact that the board at ENPF had made a resolution to the effect that a new CEO would be hired while the Prince has at least a year in his tenure as CEO. The board had reasoned that this arrangement would ensure that the new CEO is given a good handover by the Prince.

The Times of Eswatini Sunday from the 6th August 2023 had reported that the Prince’s latest renewable contract would be coming to an end in January 2024.In August/September when the recruitment exercise was expected to start the period would not meet the length of time stipulated by in the board resolution. Had the Prince had not been appointed into the Senate on the 5th November 2023 there probably would be high chances that the limited period of time with the new CEO would have likely caused for the extension of the Prince’s contract for a further period. The Prince’s Senate appointment therefore may have unintentionally resolved challenges regarding the recruitment of a new ENPF CEO.

ENPF UNDER THE PRINCE

The Prince’s tenure at the helm of the fund has seen the ENPF grow into an asset base of around  4.9billion Emalangeni ,according to the ENPF's 2022 annual report, with buildings that dominate the skyline of Manzini and Mbabane. The ENPF's commercial assets include the Happy Valley Hotel, shares in Eswatini Mobile, shares in Montigny amongst others. There have also been a digitalisation drive recently where members are able to access services online. 

On the negative side the Prince’s tenure may perhaps be soiled by the fact that together with three ministers and boards (over 15 years) they could not transform the ENPF into a national pension fund, a long standing demand from workers from the 90s.

 

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