SPIRIT OF CITIZENSHIP MUST PREVAIL

In January 2017, after eight years in office, President Barack Obama delivered his farewell address in his adopted hometown of Chicago.

During his speech, as elucidated by the Andrew Goodman, the 44th President of the United States spoke not only about the State of the Union during his presidency, but also about its future. Notably, democracy and citizenship played an important role in President Obama’s remarks. He said: “For 240 years, our nation’s call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation. It’s what led patriots to choose republic over tyranny, pioneers to trek west, slaves to brave that makeshift railroad to freedom.  It’s what pulled immigrants and refugees across oceans and the Rio Grande, pushed women to reach for the ballot, powered workers to organise. It’s why GIs gave their lives at Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima; Iraq and Afghanistan—and why men and women from Selma to Stonewall were prepared to give theirs as well.”

Responsibility

Powerful! Obama added: “All of this depends on our participation; on each of us accepting the responsibility of citizenship, regardless of which way the pendulum of power happens to be swinging.” Fellow countrymen, may I point to the fact that citizenship is what we need to drive this country to collectivity and stability in public affairs. As we are seemingly ignoring and discarding the spirit of citizenship, knowingly or unknowingly, the culture of nationhood that we have entrenched, from time immemorial, in our moral fibre fades disappointingly and with a great deal of concern. Resultantly, we shall soon lose identity. When this happens, we shall become stateless and useless.  No matter how bad one’s country can turn out to be, a bona fide citizen, as a matter of fact, will never wish that his or her motherland should collapse or be destroyed by its enemies.

Ideally, a country remains a super home. It is where my forefathers were born and laid to rest. Putting it in perspective, Eswatini is where my children live. It is where I also live. I cannot live in a destroyed country. It is not going to be possible. I am not creating an impression that Eswatini is a sinless heaven. Even then, it is our duty as citizens to protect the territorial integrity of the country from destruction. Where we do wrong as a nation, we ought to identity the evil machination that threatens our sovereignty and correct it in the spirit of citizenship. When we do so, we are not pleasing the powers-that-be, but we are doing it for ourselves and our children who sleep here and wake up here to school.  Eswatini is where I work. Eswatini is where we look for food, employment and some means to keep us going. It is where we eat and think about the next supper. We do not want to eat on the run. Peace is what I pledge. 

This is because destroying the pillars of the country will deprive us all of the essential space to think vibrantly and progressively about measures that we may possibly need to move the Kingdom of Eswatini forward.  As emaSwati, we have the capacity and the wisdom to see wrongs of any kind and magnitude. We have the capacity and wisdom to address challenges by putting in place sound corrective measures.  We have a variety of standing and unshakable platforms where we can express ourselves in effective manners that will surely draw the attention of those we have entrusted with the responsibility to manage our affairs. 

Section 63 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland (Eswatini) prescribes duties for the citizen. It is mentioned in the supreme law of our land the citizen’s duty is to promote the prestige and good name of Swaziland (Eswatini). It effectively means that it is unconstitutional and totally against the spirit of citizenship to portray the country as a worthless territory that must be attacked or deprived of electricity and food. Mind you, even jails that habour notorious criminals or jailbirds are supplied with good food. Why are you then supporting efforts that will deprive the country of food?

According to the Constitution, the citizen’s duty is to further the national interest and to foster national unity; respect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of others, and generally to refrain from doing acts detrimental to the welfare of other persons. This is an international obligation for any citizen of the world to ensure protection of his or her country from people who think their favourite ideology is the best and must be implemented at all costs.I am happy that the Constitution places a responsibility on the shoulders of a citizen to promote democracy and the rule of law. People decide the shape and the image their democracy should take or project.

Constitutional

They can decide that they are happy when Cabinet is led by three people. It is their choice. Whatever they agreed upon, they must promote it.  It is their constitutional obligation to do so.  Section 63 states clearly that the citizen must work conscientiously in his or her lawfully chosen occupation, protect and preserve public property. Some people may be surprised at learning that Section 63 (g) states that the citizen’s duty is to protect and preserve public property, and to combat misuse and waste of public funds and property.  We are to cooperate with lawful agencies in the maintenance of law and order. Most importantly, we have to also protect and safeguard the environment. Citizenship is defined by the Centre for the Study of Citizenship as membership in a community. It is a legal status and relation between an individual and a State that entails specific legal rights and duties.

It is said that citizenship is generally used as a synonym for nationality. Global CIT states that citizenship refers to the legal rights and duties of individuals attached to nationality under domestic law. In some national laws, citizenship has a more specific meaning and refers to rights and duties that can only be exercised after the age of majority. While the State provides, the citizen must exercise some duties as stated in our Constitution. Other sources of study point to the very fact that I strongly support that a citizen is a participatory member of a political community.

The Centre for the Study of Citizenship also states that a nation grants certain rights and privileges to its citizens. In return, it is said that citizens are expected to obey their country’s laws and defend it against its enemies. That is where we have to come in as emaSwati. Are we doing enough to defend our country with truth and loyalty?A true liSwati will not be a part of a campaign that does not liberate but attacks the core values of statehood.

For instance, if we are to introduce multiparty democracy, we will reach consensus as emaSwati that the time has come for us to embrace this political system. Citizenship must lead us into embracing changes, not egos and ulterior motives founded on self-aggrandisement.  However, let us not resort to “force” and violence when calling for change or when we are to resist the change. In everything we do, it is vitally important that the spirit of citizenship abides in us for the good of our motherland. The experts in the study of citizenship make it clear that the value of citizenship varies from nation to nation.

In some countries, they say citizenship can mean a citizen has the right to vote, the right to hold government offices and the right to collect unemployment insurance payments, to name a few examples. In my understanding, citizenship is not always about receiving, but citizens must give and sacrifice for their country.
Nowadays, we have citizens who always want to be given something by the State. But, they do not want to give to the State.

Corporate citizenship
According to the business dictionary, there is what we can decide to refer to as corporate citizenship. It must be emphasised in Eswatini. Where the true spirit of corporate citizenship lacks, companies can use their strong financial muscles to destroy a country. I want to educate emaSwati today.Corporate citizenship is fundamental for identity protection and upliftment of the standard of living for our people. Businesses must act like true citizens. They must support statehood and protect it, ethically and legally, from sabotages and sanctions that often result in ruins, poverty, wars and displacement. Wars are very expensive. We have a duty as citizens to condemn the Russian war on Ukraine so that we, as Africans now, can realise that peace and friendship build countries and their people.

Businesses, big and small, have a duty to promote the good name of their countries outside borders so that the defensive mechanisms become strong and effective during perilous times.
In the context of Eswatini, whenever there shall be a need for change or there is a need for change, the peaceable spirit of citizenship will unite us to embrace an alternative political ideology. We are all aware that change is important, and we shall need it when the time is right for us to embrace it. It is not advisable though to embrace change under duress or in fear of reprisals.As emaSwati we can’t say the following words: “America, come and sanction us because we resist change.”Corporate citizenship, therefore, is recognition that a business, corporation or business-like organisation, has social, cultural and environmental responsibilities to the community in which it seeks a licence to operate, as well as economic and financial ones to its shareholders or immediate stakeholders.

Radical

CCURU states that corporate citizenship involves an organisation coming to terms with the need for, often, radical internal and external changes, in order to better meet its responsibilities to all of its stakeholders (direct or indirect), in order to establish and maintain, sustainable success for the organisation and, as a result of that success, to achieve long term sustainable success for the community at large. On a parting shot, I am looking forward to it. This Bill Clinton’s memoir coming out this fall titled: “Citizen: My life after the White House.”
Just to be able to eat. When they do eat, it might be whatever is most readily available or cheapest, which might not be the most nutritious food.

The rise in obesity and other forms of malnutrition is partly a result of this phenomenon. Highly processed foods that are energy-dense, high in saturated fats, sugars and salt are often cheaper and easier to come by than fresh fruits and vegetables. Eating those foods may mean your daily requirement of calories is met, but you are missing essential nutrients to keep your body healthy and functioning well.In addition, the stress of living with uncertain access to food and going periods without food can lead to physiological changes that can contribute to overweight and obesity. Children facing hunger, food insecurity and undernutrition today may have a higher risk of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes later in life. In many countries, undernutrition and obesity coexist and both can be consequences of food insecurity.

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