GOOD MOVE GOVT BUT …

Generally I am not well disposed to singing praises given the moral decay coupled with the erosion of values in a society where it is easier to succeed by simply prostrating oneself and bootlicking than breaking a sweat for an honest day’s work to be successful in every endeavour one focused their minds on, hence it has not been easy to conjure up the requisite energy to lift my thumbs up to government for doing what should have long been done – abolishing the Smart Partnership Secretariat office. 

As I see it, there never was any logical reason for this country to sign up to the Smart Partnership Movement concept for the simple reason that this philosophy is underwritten by dialogue, which is not necessarily the forte of the emaSwati or at least the leadership. Dialogue is anathema to Eswatini polity, which is authoritarian in both form and character. The often repeated official assertion that emaSwati believe in and subscribe to the twin principles of dialoguing and negotiating in the resolution of differences and conflicts is without empirical foundation. But mostly instructive in this regard are the undercurrents leading to the ouster of the Westminster-styled independence constitution in 1973.

Like with the present Constitution, the independence constitution was nourished by a Bill of Rights through which emaSwati were assured the practice and enjoyment of all their human rights, which were not subject to alienation by any man or woman ostensibly because they are derived from and bestowed by God. Of course this was problematic to the authorities, for a people to be enjoy unfettered liberties across the spectrum, including choosing how and by whom – the Bill of Rights ensured the existence and operations of political parties - they wanted to be governed. Even though the official political party, the Imbokodvo National Movement, was the governing party, the leadership was offended when the opposition Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) won three seats in the parliament at the first post-independence general elections in 1972.

principles

If pre-independence emaSwati believed in and subscribed to the principles of dialogue and negotiating in the settlements of disputes and differences, that was about to change. The election outcome set in motion clandestine manoeuvres by the governing party culminating with the King’s Proclamation to the Nation of April 12, 1973 replacing the Westminster-styled constitution. The sum total of this was the effective outlawing and criminalisation of human rights. Consequently political parties were outlawed and so was citizenship participation in politics and freedoms of association, assembly and expression – all germane to the principles of dialogue and negotiations - also became casualties of this apparent silent coup d’état against the constitution.  

Contrary to expectations, the advent of the new constitutional order has not altered the kingdom’s political landscape a bit but might have, in fact, worsened matters if proposed obnoxious laws, such as the CyberCrime Bill of 2020, are the yardsticks of how far the country has progressed in the area of human rights either since 1973 or 2005, when the new constitution was enacted. Regrettably the distance is the same on both counts, zero if not gotten much worse lately. These proposed laws are additional efforts at furthering the oppression of the people even in cyberspace to refrain from using social media, in the absence of freedom of expression, to criticize the leadership for its excesses that have ruined this country. The proof is in the pudding of how the Smart Partnership Dialogues ended, with a whimper. The last, or was it the penultimate, in the domestic series became heated and acrimonious because it came close to resembling the true and genuine intention of establishing the global Smart Partnership Movement, constructive engagement, frankness and talking the truth to power. 

actions

That our leaders were not prepared to hear the honest truth or to be questioned on their actions or lack thereof on matters of governance, was apparently offensive to their sensitivities and was perhaps the reason why the annual dialogues got permanently canned. The nation simply lacks the art and temperament for engaging and discoursing . Another pretence at cementing emaSwati as a nation steeped in the traditions and values of dialoguing and negotiating, but that has also collapsed fantastically, is or was the Sibaya, the annual gathering of the nation at Ludzidzini Royal Cattle Byre prescribed by the constitution. Of what remains of Sibaya is only for the purpose of appointing the prime minister. Perhaps the meaning and value of the constitution, installed in 2005 as the supreme law of the land, is to be decided on the regularity with which Sibaya is convened. The Constitution dictates that this national event ought to be held annually but the reality is that this is not the case.  

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