The choice is yours

Congratulations to all who were nominated for various political positions last weekend. Here is to wishing you all the best in your journey to Parliament and probably beyond.

One certainly hopes you know exactly what you are doing and what you are putting yourself up to. A people and a country’s future now rest upon your shoulders.
Reports trickling in from the over 320 chiefdoms countrywide, suggest that the election nomination exercise last weekend recorded a fair deal of success.

A few areas are said to have been dogged with serious problems that prevented some people from voting for reasons ranging from chieftaincy disputes, last minute change of venues to improper dress codes. We trust these will be addressed before the primary election if we are to evaluate the process as free and fair.

While these issues are being addressed, there are several aspects of the process we ought not to lose sight of - in particular our character as a people upon which the future will judge us.
It is a character that reveals how well we understand or relate to the constitution that we formulated, what we perceive governance to be and what type of a country or future we desire given the choices we make by way of nominating a particular individual who represents our ideals.
It is fair to say that the electorate went into an election with very little understanding or appreciation of the full context under which the elections are taking place given the new pieces of election legislation.

However, be it an election administered by legal or illegal instruments, the large turnout demonstrated a people determined to get a new parliament in place without any further delay.
The other interesting picture developing from this election is how united or divided some communities are. There are some largely populated chiefdoms that appear more united with very few nominees and some very small chiefdoms showing huge signs of division( or indecision about who best represents their ideals) with a high number of nominees.

Deserving

While this satisfies their freedom or the right to choose, it could also be detrimental to their cause and that of this country where capable or deserving individuals could find themselves crashing out at primary election stage. But then again, it’s all about what the majority want which may not necessarily be the best at all times. Democracy at its best.
This year’s dissolution of parliament also brought sharp focus on our constitution, especially with regards to the definition of what constitutes ‘public office’.

When His Majesty dissolved parliament he said an announcement would be made on an interim government, sigejane. What followed were ministers announcing themselves to be still in office. The elected ministers who were appointed into Cabinet partook in the nomination exercise much against the provisions of Section 97 (1) (c) of the constitution. Lawyers say Cabinet is a public office but the  Attorney General says it is not quite. 

In all the constituencies where the elected ministers were nominated, only one has challenged the minister’s nomination along these lines. Could it be that the document is understood as interpreted by the AG? Are people too ignorant of the provisions of their own constitution? Could it be that they are not bothered or could it simply be that they can’t afford to challenge it. Once again, that is the nature of the people we are.

The other interesting highlight of our character is in exercising responsibility. How do you remove a child from school and send him or her to parliament? We have pupils, irrespective of age, whose futures depend on their education but communities are prepared to sacrifice that for a five year term that has no employment guarantees for the nominees with no O’ Level certificate to their names. Where is the responsibility in all this and do we even care about a future Swaziland?  Obviously not!

We have said it before and we will say it again. Parliament involves a lot of reading, research, consultation and articulation to get the best recommendations accepted into law. The pieces of legislation they propose should be ones that make this society function properly.
This is in order for every public or national institution to deliver more efficiently, effectively with transparency and accountability in creating more job opportunities, roads, hospitals and clinics, water, schools, sanitation etc, to make our lives better.

Parliament should not be viewed as a means to help our favourite community members earn a higher salary so as to purchase a van to be used as a community ambulance or afford to pay for needy children’s school fees and provide food for the hungry neighbours. It’s unsustainable.
The fact that MPs have assumed that role is indicative of a failing government. Let us not design a future based on immediate needs. Hard as it may be to avoid the fact that those hungry will vote for the hand that feeds them, those jobless for the employer and those sickly for the healer, let us be wise enough to seek a permanent solution to our problems and think Vision 2022 (if we know what this is).

His Majesty the King strongly warned the electorate on Friday not to sell this country to those flashing temporary gifts of whatever form because we would have sold this country and auctioned our souls to the highest bidder. And, as proven by the outgoing government, those who buy it only have their own profit in mind. But then again, the choice is yours.

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