CASH VS CONSCIENCE

If we were to go back in time to 2018, we would now be preparing for a call to the national Cattle Byre, Sibaya, where His Majesty the King would summon the nation to announce the dissolution of Parliament. The previous Parliament was dissolved effective June 30, 2018.  
This is where the King urged the citizenry to prepare to elect citizens who were capable of serving in government to help this country realise the aspirations of our national Vision 2022.

In doing so, he urged that we do not leave women behind. It goes without saying that a lot of women were left behind as the current Legislature falls far short of the 50 per cent target set by the African Union (AU). However, that is not the subject of my position today, except to reflect on the expectations that were deposed back then, juxtaposed against what to expect now.

Registration

Emerging from a bruising period of political discord and violent unrest that has claimed many lives, registration for the elections has been slow, until deadline day on Wednesday that saw over 50 000 people register. The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) had reason to be concerned at the slow progress, but was encouraged to extend the deadline to this Sunday following the long queues that ran well into the evening in many registration centres.

So what changed? What suddenly sparked the mad rush? Has it been cash promises from aspiring politicians or the people’s consciousness for the need to play a part in nation building? What do people really expect from the new parliamentarians and will it be different to what was asked for back in 2018. I do recall the sample interviews conducted among ordinary citizens at Sibaya in 2018, where the wishes were similar to those of the 2016 Sibaya; where the majority lamented the lack of job opportunities, poor service delivery, corruption and unequal distribution of national resources.

Young

Two years later (2018), some felt it was time for a new prime minister (PM), who was younger. Security Guard Thulani Gamedze (50), of Mangwaneni in Mbabane, said the country needed a young PM, who would have the pace, energy and the interests of the youth at heart. He said the youth were more technologically advanced academically and were most suited to lead this country towards realising the aspirations of our National Vision 2022.

“Anyone between the age of 25 and 35 years old can do, regardless of gender,” he said. If His Majesty had granted such a wish, Eswatini would not have been the first to have a young leader. At the time, Sebastian Kurz, the Chancellor of Austria, was the world’s youngest leader at 32, while North Korea’s Kim Jong-un was believed to be aged 35, while France had President Emmanuel Macron, who was 40 years of age and is among the world’s youngest leaders. Well, young is not exactly what we got, but an experienced economist in the late Mandvulo Dlamini.

Another interviewee, Bheki Hlophe (37) of Mbhadlane, urged the youth to cast a vote for an individual who had a traceable record of initiating or being involved in youth empowerment programmes in communities. It’s fair to say that youth unemployment surged under the current Parliament, but the COVID-19 pandemic had a lot to do with it.

Dominate

Velibanti Dlamini (38) of Gundvwini, the Director of Socio-economic Development for Change, said the hour was nigh for the youth to dominate the seats in the 11th Parliament to ensure they were included in the economic development agenda of this country by creating adequate employment opportunities for them. “They should vote for candidates who will take their mandate and make it an agenda in Parliament,” he strongly emphasised. A proper survey would have to be conducted to measure the success of these desires.

What has been good to note, this time around, is government’s eagerness to release civil servants to participate in the elections. Back in 2018, government had plans to deny some civil servants their rights to participate in the national elections unless they settled outstanding car or study loans.
This was done prior to any of the candidates knowing their fate. It defied logic as the purpose of granting them leave of absence would allow them to return to work in the event they lost at the ballot box, while the debts could easily be recovered from those who were successful to get to Parliament.

So, as we await the national call for Sibaya in the coming days, we need to be mindful that, while the elections are more about the numbers for legitimacy significance, these numbers should speak to the real desire to put ones vote for candidates who have the best interest of the country at heart.
It should not be about selling ourselves to the highest bidder who will recoup his bribes-for-votes through corruption at the expense of national development once he/she gets into public office.

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