AN EPOCHAL WEEK

Two events conspired to designate the past week epochal in the lives of emaSwati and indeed annals of the history of this kingdom; the sudden death of Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini – may his soul rest in eternal peace – when the nation was expecting his full recovery and return home after he had been airlifted to a South African health facility suffering from COVID-19 and; the military’s over reach into purely civilian administrative matters whose import was probably lost to a good majority of a people who over the decades have been programmed to merely exist and not live.

The passing of the PM is epochal initially because it is not every day that a head of government passes on while in active duty. Additionally that the cause of death was the COVID-19 pandemic that the kingdom, including the rest of the world, is battling its onslaught, a battle in which the PM was the cheerleader and the face of the nation’s resolve to conquer this enemy. The fact that the demise of the PM happened amid a mystifying chorus of assurances from government the sum total of which was that he had passed the eye of the COVID-19 storm, meaning he was on a recovery trajectory.

Given the circumstances, the demise of the PM was least expected in the wake of the (mis)information government had been feeding the nation, which ultimately proved to have been far from the truth. Apparently this daily diet of lies was fed to an unsuspecting nation from the day the PM was admitted to hospital after having tested positive for COVID-19 a week earlier; ‘he is in a stable condition and improving if not recovering,’ was what the nation was fed almost on a daily basis.

Announcing

Even as government, through the DPM, was announcing that it had been found prudent to transfer the PM to South Africa, explaining that this was merely to expedite his recovery and nothing was said of his condition having worsened to the point of being critical. Drawing comfort from these reassuring statements, the nation was looking forward to the PM’s eventual repatriation having fully recovered to at least convalesce at home before resuming the duties of his office. But it was not to be when suddenly government announced that the stable and improving PM had died. This is exactly what fuels the rumour machine and conspiracy theories, which have become synonymous with this nation’s long denied freedom of expression by an oppressive political system, when people are not taken into the confidence of those entrusted with the onerous responsibility of governing. And most often than not, some of these rumours are later authenticated either directly or indirectly. 

As I see it, if anything, government owes the nation an explanation about this deliberate but definitely ill-informed misinformation. It cannot be that this was to protect this nation when being candid could have prepared emaSwati if not for the worst but to inspire them into prayer. These are all manifestations of a nation that has systematically gravitated towards what has become a cesspool of immorality where, among others, telling the truth has become treasonable and its bearers enemies of the State. This is the era of deceit where telling the truth has become a revolutionary act that can attract charges of sedition, subversion and even high treason. What kind of a nation have we become?

Now the nation has been robbed of a brilliant mind who, although may not have been cut out for political success under this obnoxious political system, still could have made meaningful contributions to a better Eswatini.  Of course the other event of epochal proportions was the military over-arching to and encroaching on matters of civilian administration and operations during the auctioning of taxpayer funded fleet of escort vehicles. It turned out that the military police who interfered in this normal and purely legal civilian activity had been sanctioned by the new Ministry of Defence Principal Secretary Prince Sicalo, himself a military man. No explanations of the military’s definitely illegal and illegitimate involvement in this suffice in justifying this unwarranted naked public display of military might.

Should we, the people and sponsors of the State, be worried where all this will end? History has shown us that the military, especially in Africa, has an insatiable appetite to have complete control of its ecosystems, including managing and controlling the lives of civilian populations. What we have been witness to last week could be a precursor of worse things to come. From now onwards the future is uncertain in Eswatini.

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