YOUR LAST CHANCE

“ASK not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country,” is a famous quote from former US President  John F Kennedy’s inaugural speech that comes to mind on the eve of our national election nominations for candidates to form a new government.

No time in the history of this country has the people’s election of candidates mattered more than it does now given the precarious situation that our beloved Kingdom of Eswatini finds herself in.

One needs not detail the obvious. Even school children now know we are faced with a very serious cash flow challenge that has severely affected service delivery in almost every sector.  What matters now is who we get to fix it.
Fixing starts tomorrow. A recent study, ‘Breaking barriers: Enhancing Swazi Women’s participation and representation in decision making’, found that many people are aware about gender and what a leader is but they could not articulate what leadership and the different types of leaderships are. This is a big worry on the eve of an election.
Are we to place our future in the hands of men and women we know and trust, who have the capability of transforming a nation? If yes, based on what track record? What have they done in life to show for it?

Do these candidates possess good public speaking and presentation skills which are necessary to get important messages across to get the required action; do they have a good understanding of the needs of the people, do they have good writing and research skills to ensure they speak, file motions and act from a highly informed position; do they have problem solving skills for a country with a litany of challenges that need to be addressed?

Are we to nominate people of integrity who are trustworthy enough to deal with the corruption that has manifested itself in our governance and has bled our coffers dry? Or are we to place those who bribe for a vote into power to continue with their corrupt ways? 

My plea to fellow citizens is that when we nominate, we should put the interests of the country first before our own. The task facing new parliamentarians is enormous and cannot, even for a promise of a soccer tournament, be taken for granted.

We need quality education, health, social programmes, foreign direct investment, job creation, food security, lower taxes and user fees, affordable electricity, cheaper communication and transport, etc.

Our education system, which forms the foundation of the country’s future, needs reformists to save it from total collapse. Highly successful nations - some with little or no natural resources - have used education to become First World countries. We have capable candidates to take us there but they may not be so popular in our communities. We need to look beyond the fame.
Our economy cannot afford trial and error anymore. We have had no proper investment in this country during the term of the 10th Parliament, forcing government to act as the major employer. This has proved unsustainable as all funds are now being diverted to pay salaries which consume over 60 per cent of the national budget.
We need people to make Eswatini attractive to investors. These should be people who won’t demand a shareholding of the companies before they set up shop here.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that the country is now competing at regional and continental level with SADC pushing for regional integration that seeks a free movement of goods and services. This means investors can literally settle anywhere in the region to trade in the bloc. The question becomes; what is our value proposition as a country? The African Union has launched the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) that opens up competition for trade. What do we have to offer the continent besides sugar?
Our mineral resources remain untapped yet can play a significant role in boosting the economy. With the right legislation, we can attract investment that would be beneficiary at source to avoid exporting raw material.
We can hardly say we have engaged the right gear in our agriculture. This is an area that offers the best returns for our economy in a country that has vast tracts of arable land and unutilised farms. In terms of infrastructure, the country may have better roads than most in the region but this will only count if they carry the necessary goods from one point to the next.
Our parastatals remain a heavy burden to the taxpayer and need to be reduced. It is also high time our ministries be cut down to fit the size of our economy. We can no longer afford this top heavy structure.  
This is just stating the obvious. Solutions to make this country better are well documented in numerous national and international consultation documents that we have ignored to our detriment. 
Well a chance to fix all this comes tomorrow. We trust the electorate will nominate candidates who will get to Parliament to do the right thing. Your carefully considered nomination is the best thing you could ever do for your country.

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