MY PLEA TO PARLIAMENTARIANS

I would like to congratulate those who made it to the august House through the ballot. We congratulate them for we now know what they went through to get those seats. I am, however, of the view that it was not necessary for them go through so much if we are to believe what is told to us.

People were not supposed to go to those lengths just to get to Parliament if the system was what we are told it should be. I have heard complaints that if you do not have enough money you cannot get to Parliament and true, we have seen people splashing money to endear themselves to the electorate.

My plea to the incoming parliamentarians is that they must have the guts to pass laws that will stop people from using their money to buy their way into the House. Yes, most of them are going to Parliament now for using the same tactics. I know that deep down in their conscience they know that this is wrong and should not be happening. It is this very same problem that our womenfolk are complaining about.

They are saying their weak financial muscles are what are stopping them from winning seats in Parliament. Up to now I am yet to hear someone disputing what they are saying. But this is not supposed to happen because people with no integrity and no goodwill are going to be elected into the august House.
My plea, again, to those going to Parliament is that they should stop lining their pockets but also think about the people who elected them into office. The truth is they have to get back what they wasted when doing their campaigns because it was basically an investment. They were investing their money and they will get the profits when they get to Parliament.

I am, however, pleading with them that as much as they cashed out on their investment they must remember that people, the people they are supposed to serve, are in need of their services. They must pass laws that are going to assist the ordinary people in communities. I want to emphasise that they must pass laws because when they were campaigning they were telling us about development projects they had in mind, yet this is not their mandate in the House.
Some among them are going to be appointed into Cabinet while others, outside those who were elected, are also going to be appointed into Cabinet.

My plea to them all is that as they travel the whole world, they must remember that they are using taxpayers’ money. At least the taxpayer should get some crumbs from whatever will fall from what they will be giving to themselves without the authority of the taxpayers. EmaSwati deserve better service delivery and they must not destroy them for their own personal and family enjoyment. Taxing people to death will not help them but one way or the other it may lead to their downfall. I am thinking of last week’s mayhem during the strikes. Once people are tired, angry and hungry they would go to extreme lengths to get what they need. The guns and batons will fail to stop them.

The very same incoming Cabinet is expected to prepare and present a budget to the nation. Members of Parliament will debate that budget and pass it, so as they work on the budget my plea is that they should consider the pressing needs of the people and not please their friends.
The events of the last few weeks explained it to me why the security budget is always exorbitant. The continuous promotion of police officers, even when others are told that they should not promote personnel, told me that they are considered more special than all other civil servants. That they then went to brutalise people is a clear sign of why they are treated differently.

We are told that we must understand that service delivery is so poor in the country because of financial problems but that does not apply when it comes to pleasing police officers with promotions. Education is not necessary because security forces do not need much of that; Health is not necessary because even if one officer was to pass on there are other emaSwati waiting to get an opportunity to be employed, thus replacing the departed officer.

All of this can be corrected and only those in the august House can help pass laws to curb this. So my appeal to those going to Parliament is that in whatever they do, please think about the suffering populace. As parliamentarians who will enjoy your time and getting huge allowances, please remember the suffering person who is banking on you to assist. That can only be by passing laws that will help the people.

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