We can all own E1.5m mansions

Developing this the Kingdom of eSwatini to a First World nation underscored the State of the Nation address by His Majesty King Mswati III during last Friday’s State Opening of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament that however did not imbue much confidence for its lack of emphasis specifics and on delivery.

As I see it that the goal of modernizing this country into First World status was high up in the hierarchy of priority areas in the Sovereign’s State of the Nation speech only served to impress on the government and indeed the people at large just how serious and committed he is about this singular objective to which he has alluded to publicly in some of his recent speeches. But although mentioning that achieving this objective shall require substantial resources as well as hard work, determination, creative thinking, commitment and sacrifice, the speech did not offer much in terms of detail and the specifics of achieving this goal but merely made reference to the National Development Strategy (NDS).

We all know that the NDS is often relegated to the bottom of the rung when resources, which invariably are rerouted towards sustaining a First World lifestyle that is already a reality to the ruling elite, are allocated in the budget.
As I see it the very notion of a First World country may well be confusing to a lot of Swazis given their varying levels of education as well as exposure or lack thereof to countries whose economies have long or recently achieved this level of development and modernization.

For the nation to move forward in unison would require the leadership to lead from the front by taking the populace into its confidence and explain its notion of what constitutes a First World country. After all the nation is still struggling with the very notion or concept of what constitutes real democracy with some believing the obtaining political system sired by the April 12, 1973 King’s Proclamation to the Nation, which outlawed the Westminster-styled independence constitution and replaced it with the royalty-patronized Imbokodvo National Movement one-party leadership, to be the best there is while others continue to beat the drums of multi-party democracy as second to none notwithstanding its inherent weaknesses, which they vehemently believe are nothing compared to those of the obtaining political status quo. The end result is that the nation remains divided based on political beliefs essentially because the obtaining system cannot co-exist with a multi-party form of democracy or any other for that matter.

As I see it in order to strategically position this country for a quantum leap into the future would require that we as a collective identify and prioritize the essential prerequisites to achieve this objective. This would start with the physical infrastructure that includes the roads and transport network, telecommunications, electricity and power generation, proper sanitation and water reticulation, etc., that are not dedicated to specific areas of the country but are equitably spread throughout the nook and cranny of this country in order to reach every citizen. Admittedly some progress has been achieved in some areas but the reality is that this is inadequate.

This country is not just about the two cities, Mbabane and Manzini, and a few selected rural areas. It is still a tragedy that there are some parts of rural Swaziland where clean and safe water remains a luxury of a chosen few while the majority of the people have to scavenge and in many cases are forced to compete with animals. That is unacceptable in a country the size of municipality if not smaller that achieved uhuru some 41 odd years ago. If health, provision of shelter, food security and education are not the priority of a newly independent nation, then I surely do not understand what should be the role of any such a government because it would be insensitive to and place the people central to its developmental goals.

It was a breath of fresh air that His Majesty in his speech should prioritize housing for the people, in the process noting that “access to proper shelter is a basic need for all citizens and civil servants”. He announced that a budget of E1.5 billion has been set aside to provide shelter to the people over the next three years, a priority that gels to those that are fundamental in nudging the country towards the much desired goal of First World status. And if my mathematics and the last national census figures that put our population at a million and twenty thousand people are anything to go by, the money budgeted for housing is not just adequate to deliver decent and modern houses to everyone of our compatriots but is sufficient to build mansions of approximately E1.5 million for everyone of us. That would definitely be a much welcome lubricant for the economy of the country and a sure way to embark on the long journey towards achieving First World status.

While one expected the State of the Nation speech to lance the boil without romanticizing the challenges facing this nation, in particular with regards to the reduction of receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) that has been government’s lifeblood over the decades coupled to the closure of some of the big companies that provided much needed foreign exchange earnings not to speak of the thousands of people they employed, it left one hollow in the stomach with its failure to critically reflect on the failures of the past year while at the same time carving out a roadmap for success this year. Perhaps those charged with the onerous responsibilities of drafting such important speeches are so much fatigued that they are only too happy to rehash past speeches offering little or nothing new.   

As I see it the other let down was the seemingly continued refusal by the powers that be not just to acknowledge but to accept that not all Swazis come from the same political hue. And it is this refusal to accommodate all Swazis of whatever political persuasion under the sun that the full potential of this nation can be unleashed. Pretending that all is well on the political front can only lead to disaster since the opposing forces would continue pulling different directions, a scenario that can compromise this country’s prospects particularly in sourcing the much needed resources for donor agencies and the international community.

But thus far we can all take comfort that we might become proud owners of E1.5 million mansions if the money set aside to house the nation, wherever it will come from, is not diverted to fund those already in the First Economy of the country’s three-tier economy.  
 
Minister Ntshangase is fueling the chaos The extent of the chaos triggered by the rolling out of free primary education in grades 1 and 2 is either being underestimated or can be attributed to a government that is in denial of the grim reality on the ground owing to its obstinacy emanating from its continued refusal to respect the constitution of this country.

With the national constitution having come into operation just into the second half of 2005, government had three long years immediately thereafter to lay the groundwork for the introduction of free universal primary education in all public schools.

The constitution is not ambiguous on the question of universal free primary education in public schools, and that  it must be implemented after three years after the constitution had come into force, period.
But as if reliving the olden days of then Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini’s maiden tour as head of government, his government decided to work outside the law when it openly and categorically refused to respect the rule of law by defying court rulings in favour of evictees from KaMkhweli and Macetjeni areas, the succeeding government headed by Absalom Themba Dlamini merely paid lip-service apropos the onerous but practical responsibility of restoring the rule of law but also never at any other point pretended that there existed a new supreme law of the country in the form of a national constitution and completely ignored its dictates. And one of the constitution’s dictates was the introduction of universal free primary education three years after the constitution had come into force.

Thus what the old order had left behind, the rule of law crisis, remained intact under the new order. Even when incumbent was catapulted back to the Premiership position in the new government that is in its second year in office, the constitutional imperatives that included, among others, the universal free primary education in public schools, apparently remained at the bottom of its priorities. It took a court challenge by a body of former miners – ironically a group of people largely considered to be at the foot of the ladder of the social order of this the Kingdom of eSwatini notwithstanding their contribution to the economy with their remittances – that government was reminded of its obligations apropos the national constitution as it pertained to the issue of universal free primary education in public schools. Only then did the government undertook to implement free primary education but still variated from what the constitution had dictated. Government chose to roll-out free education only in grades 1 and 2 this year with the undertaking that the process would be gradual until the constitutional requirement is fulfilled.

As I see it and because government was working under duress of the law, it still was in no position to ensure a smooth transition even if free education was introduced to a negligible two grades because there simply was no ample time to prepare. Even the hitherto perennial optimist, Wilson Ntshangase, the Education and Training Minister, was proven wrong when schools opened for the first term. The thousands of pupils who registered for the two grades overwhelmed inadequate teachers, classrooms and other facilities leading to chaotic situations. It would be presumptuous not to think that this chaos may leave an indelible mark and a long-term negative effect on the level and standard of education in public schools.  Minister Ntshangase did not ameliorate the situation when on one hand he came out with standards that needed to be followed by the many mushrooming private schools but only to be breached by oversubscribed public schools. For what Ntshangase expects to prevail in private schools he should then lower the standards in public schools simply because they were caught napping.

Another disturbing issue is the spreading trend where parents, with the collusion of some principals, have decided that the E560 per child grant from government should be topped up by parents in the name of maintaining high standards. We expected the minister to intervene decisively in this matter for a number of reasons. First, poor parents cannot afford to top-up the fees because they do not have the money yet because they lost the vote they would be compelled to do something, which might deny their children education because they may end up being thrown out. Second, allowing or treating with kid gloves this top-up business would lead to the marginalization of pupils coming from poor backgrounds, including the orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs), being marginalized from being accepted by some of these schools that have endorsed the fees top-up.

Third and most important is the breach of the constitution by those parents and principals who have embraced the top-up concept. That government also failed to live up to the letter of the constitution does not mean that every Dick, Tom and Harry should breach the law willy-nilly unless society is also embracing the concept of lawlessness. If that were to happen that would take this country to the brink hence this must be stopped or alternative sources of revenue be identified to top-up government grants. After all it was impractical for government to paint all the schools with one brush when deciding on the E560 grant per student if not for anything else but the geographical positions of the various public schools.

It does not require a rocket scientist to deduce that urban and rural schools have differing budget requirements because of their peculiar situations. Additionally, some of the public schools are also supported by missions or source some of their budgets from alternative sources other than parents. But whatever the inherent problems of free primary education this must not open floodgates for lawlessness and the breach of the supreme law of the land and it is time someone take responsibility for this because it is wrong.
 

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