Times Of Swaziland: HIS MAJESTY: DIALOGUE SOON AFTER ELECTIONS

HIS MAJESTY: DIALOGUE SOON AFTER ELECTIONS
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Ntombi Mhlongo on 12/07/2023 16:51:00


LOBAMBA - The Sibaya dialogue will be held immediately after the 2023 General
Elections.
This is as per the directive issued by His Majesty King Mswati III yesterday
during Sibaya. The general elections are expected to end on September 29, 2023.
His Majesty made the announcement of the dialogue yesterday during the Sibaya
which was attended by throngs of emaSwati, who were eagerly anticipating what he
would say. In the last Sibaya, where the King announced Cleopas Dlamini as the
new Prime Minister, following the death of Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, His Majesty
noted the calls for a dialogue and reminded emaSwati of the processes to be
followed if there were issues that the people wanted to raise, processes which
are enshrined in the Constitution.
Direction
The King, at the time, stated that when the time was right, emaSwati would be
called to Sibaya to chart a way forward on the political direction that the
country would take. These processes recognise Sibaya as the ultimate
decision-making body in the land. Yesterday at Sibaya, the attendees gathered
with a myriad of expectations, with the main one being that the King would
dissolve the 11th Parliament, something which indeed happened. His speech, which
was structured in similar fashion like the Speech from The Throne he usually
delivers to mark the official opening of Parliament around February each year,
touched on a variety of sectors, including the economy, health, road
infrastructure and the need for the nation to come together.
Screams, ululations and whistles were heard from almost every corner of the
cattle byre when the King announced that the nation needed to come together and
engage. Then King assured that the dialogue would allow him to listen to what
the citizens had to say. Using the vernacular term ‘kubhunga’, the King
recounted that the nation had not been able to come together for national talks,
partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated the introduction of
restrictions on travel and gatherings. He said the good news was that the
pandemic was no longer a serious threat, which meant that the nation could now
gather at Sibaya and dialogue. In vernacular, he said; “Loku kusho kutsi
ematfuba ekutsi live selingabhunga sekangavuleka.”
He emphasised that the kingdom was known to be a dialoguing nation and that the
time had come to do so. Back to Sibaya, His Majesty thanked the Heavens for the
cold weather accompanied by rains, saying it was a clear sign that Sibaya had
been summoned. “It has never happened that at this time of the year we receive
the rains that we witnessed, more especially because it is winter. We can say
that these are blessings for the country. When we witness rains, it means that
it is blessings from the Almighty God,” His Majesty said. He said since the
beginning of the year, there had been a lot of positive aspects witnessed in the
country and that such happened at a time when the country had struggled with the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The King then emphasised on the need to restore peace in the country and for
emaSwati to live in harmony. “There is a need to restore the harmony and peace
that we are known for as a nation. There is nothing that can ever defeat a
nation that is united and lives in peace,” he said. He said what was important
was for all citizens to put in effort to ensure the promotion of peace, not just
for the existing generation but for future ones as well.