Times Of Swaziland: PM: ALL IS WELL WITH TINKHUNDLA SYSTEM, BUT ...

PM: ALL IS WELL WITH TINKHUNDLA SYSTEM, BUT ...
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Sibusiso Zwane on 14/12/2023 18:19:00


MANZINI - Prime Minister (PM) Russell Dlamini says politically, all is well with
the Tinkhundla System of Government.
However, he said it needed to be strengthened administration wise, rebranded and
modernised. The PM said this yesterday when he was officially opening the
induction course of tinkhundla elected officials from the Manzini Region. The
event was held at The George Hotel. The PM told the elected officials; Members
of Parliament (MPs), constituency headmen and chiefdom councillors, that they
should work hard for their titles. He said they should behave like MPs,
constituency headmen and chiefdom councillors, not like thugs.
Thereafter, he said, constituencies were the backbone of government and
development of the country and emaSwati. He said since the country successfully
hosted the general elections, which were peaceful and that now they were
inducting the elected officials, it meant that politically, all was well with
the system.
Strengthen
“We need to strengthen its administration by taking government to the people,
including development, jobs and what informs the budget, among other things,”
the PM said. He said this should be done even if they need to pass a policy that
would compel them to follow the same path.
He added that in order to strengthen the system of government, they needed to
talk about it without fear and be bold about the fact that the Tinkhundla System
was democratic.
“We also need to rebrand it (Tinkhundla System). But currently, the budget
that goes to the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development is small
and offices at the tinkhundla centres are dilapidated,” the PM said. He added
that the rebranding should not only apply to the structures, but the manner in
which government conducted its business. He said everything they did should
demonstrate excellence. He said by doing so, everyone would want to be part of
the Tinkhundla System.
Modernise
Furthermore, the premier said there was a need to modernise the Tinkhundla
System in order to strengthen it. He said the system needed to move with the
times and be taught in schools. Failure to do so, the country will have
difficulty in making young people understand the system,” the PM said.
However, he said things did not just happen, but everything should be planned
and implemented. In that regard, he said the elected officials should have a
plan to strengthen the Tinkhundla System. He stated that government would do
anything in its power to ensure that Tinkhundla developed and took its place in
the country. Therefore, he said the elected officials should look at all
development plans and programmes that would be brought by government and its
partners, if they would be good for the country or not.
According to the PM, previously, the country took developmental programmes that
were not good for the nation and deserted what suited them. For example, he said
they were told to buy fertilisers in order to produce more and they deserted
manure. However, he said now when they wanted organic food, which was produced
by using manure, they had to buy it at expensive prices. He added that even now,
there were developmental programmes or initiatives that would not be good for
the country and emaSwati. He said the elected officials should not be afraid to
speak up and stop such.
Prioritised
On another note, he said resettlement should been prioritised in constituencies
and chiefdoms, because if the allocation of land continued like it had been
happening, the country would resemble a shanty town, except for urban areas. He
said there were areas like Kwaluseni, where there were no roads leading to
certain homes and others did not have land to build toilets. He said communities
should meet and agree on which land should be declared as grazing land, fields
and for homes. This, according to the PM, should be done with the assistance of
experts, who would inspect the land and determine what it was good for.
“This can contribute to achieving His Majesty King Mswati III’s vision for
the country, of attaining First World status,” the PM said. Moreover, the PM
said everywhere one could go there would be three types of people; minority,
second majority and the majority. He said the minority were people who made
things happen and made a difference. He said these were the people who did not
complain about a given task and they were also known as innovators.
He said the second majority were those who thought they knew and they talked a
lot, but did not do anything, while the majority were people who did not care
about what was happening and they did not seek change. Thereafter, he urged the
elected officials to be the first category of people (the minority), by being
innovators and bring change to their communities and people’s lives.