ORDINARY EMASWATI DANGEROUSLY SILENT

The silence of ordinary senior emaSwati patriots is very worrying.

It speaks volumes to those who can analyse the political mood. Some will attribute the silence to fear, some to cultural respect, others to ignorance of the true situation, while others say it’s deliberate silence and finally some will simply say its indifference to act on issues of national importance. “The silence of good people is more dangerous than the brutality of bad people,” once said Martin Luther King Jr.

The patriots

The definition of a patriot, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is ‘a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors’. Generally, all people may have love for their country, however, with a patriot the feeling of love for their country and the values upon which those feelings are based are very different. Feelings of patriotism are based on the positive values the country embraces – like freedom, justice and equality. In my last article, ‘Eswatini monarchy in danger’, we received a lot of response particularly through this publication’s Facebook page and it was clearly from young patriots.

The total of 251 read, 178 comments and 22 shared showed amazing response within a few days. Emails received were about 30. When you analyse the responses you find that most of them were expressing serous negative sentiments towards the King and the monarchy. The responses were filled with uncontrolled anger and hate. I am aware that the sample size is very small to effectively draw informed conclusions but it is clear that without inputs from the older generation we are heading for civil war.
Young patriots have played a pivotal part in political change throughout history but without the guidance of the senior citizens who have the hindsight of experience this can be very dangerous and detrimental to the country they are trying to protect.

Why are older patriots silent?

In the past few days we have read with shock the demands of the pro-democracy movement through their umbrella body. The lives and property of our elected Members of Parliament are in danger. This constitutes a threat which every citizen must take seriously. The end results of the pro-democracy movement are understandable and the duty of every liSwati is to promote and defend democracy and the rule of law (the Constitution of Eswatini encourages it) but not like this. It is the duty of all patriotic citizens who have the wisdom and the means to stand up and contribute to saving this country from serous calamites. As much as it is our duty to also seek democracy we need to do so within the rule of law as much as it is humanly possible.

Amendment of Constitution

September 6, 1968 marks the day of our independence from Britain; this should be one of the most important days for every patriot in Eswatini. On October 4, 2005, we got our Constitution, which we were made to believe was approved by all international bodies including the Commonwealth and African Union. The democratic spirit of the document is evident, but the chapter on the appointment of the prime minister and government makes it undemocratic. King Sobhuza II said the Tinkhundla political system was to be revisited and improved from time-to-time. It has been 16 years with a formal Constitution and the time has come to amend it and put in democratic principles which will see emaSwati electing their own prime minister and having a government by the people. This will save the King from continued political pressure which is threatening the very existence of the monarchy.

September 6 Movement

A few non-politically affiliated concerned emaSwati feel the frustration and helplessness caused by our political situation. They see the escalation of tension within the political party formations but also see no movement towards dialogue from any of the State leadership structures. The royal family remains silent, Parliament is seemingly paralysed and government is also pretending nothing is happening. They call on all responsible law abiding citizens who are not affiliated to any political party or any political organisation to break the silence and be part of the September 6 Movement as a way to express their views and feelings without fear.

The organisation has not been officially registered but it is opening itself up as an ordinary people driven entity. The Constitution (Section 24’s freedom of expression allows it). The direction, principles and structure of their movement will be determined by the patriots who will take the challenge to become part of the history of constitutional change in Eswatini. We are hoping that October 4, 2021, when the Constitution was adopted officially by His Majesty King Mswati III, will mark a turning point for our country. Peaceful and lawful activities must be planned to compel Parliament to start the constitutional amendment process. This will require professionals from all walks of life including the great legal minds within the country. It is the duty and responsibility to take your destiny and that of our future generations into our hands. Religious people, our spiritual leaders have been silent far too long. We need their leadership and prayers. Please respond to septembereswatini@gmail.com

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: