700 graduate at IDM

MBABANE—Over 700 people graduated yesterday at the Institute of Development Management (IDM) held at SIMPA, but only 20 of these were Swazis.

Botswana had the lion’s share of graduates followed by Lesotho then Swaziland. This did not go down well with the Swazi graduates. Some even complained that the graduation should have been held in Botswana.

"This is an indication of how we prioritise in terms of education as a country. We are really embarrassed by this," said Sukumani Nkambule a certificate in Human Resource Management graduate.

Nkambule suggested that government review its approach to equipping the nation with skills. He further revealed that the training officers within the government ministries sometimes caused this.

"The training officers who are responsible for recommending and facilitating the roll-out of courses within ministries so-metimes frustrate this process.

"I think this leads to less intake of Swazis to such fundamental courses," compl-ained Nkambule.

Speaking during the gradua-tion ceremony Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku observed that regional cooper-ation is still relevant today as it was when the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swazi-land (UBLS) was established 34 years ago.

"Regional co-operation has now become even more complex due to the increasingly globalising world, which makes co-operation to no longer be a matter of choice but an imperative of existence," said Masuku.

He further thanked IDM for supporting human capacity development initiatives in the UBLS governments.

"Indeed highly capacitated, professional and strong bureau-cracies are imperative for leading and supporting the efforts of developmental states such as ours," said Masuku.

Masuku also encouraged IDM to explore partnerships with other international and regional organisations that are in similar business.

He also encouraged IDM to look beyond its traditional market of civil servants and private sector officials to consider political structures such as the legislature in capacity building programs to enhance the performance of these structures for the benefit of the UBLS countries.

"This will make more dynamic and more relevant to the changing times as it will be addressing issues that are closer to the people’s expectations," said Masuku.

Cabinet ministers who graced this event included Tourism and Environmental Affairs Minister Macford Sibandze, Home Affairs Minister Mgwagwa Gam-adze, and Justice Minister Ndumiso Mamba.

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