CALL SPADE A SPADE, NOT A GARDEN TOOL

Sir,

My biggest wish is to see Eswatini developing and becoming a self-sustainable country. This development must improve the lives of every citizen unlike the obtaining situation, where it is only the survival of the fittest. And this development needs to begin at grassroot level, the constituencies. I am glad to make suggestions to people in rural Eswatini on how we can develop ourselves thus alleviating poverty.

There is nothing so nice like going back to your people to share the knowledge one has acquired so that everybody benefits. In developing my area, I think it is very important, first of all, to make a good choice when electing our Member of Parliament. I think educating people about having a good leader is the first step towards a better community. Leadership, my fellow people is not about position but is about action. I have witnessed a situation where my people chose a leader out of ignorance. I am not insulting my very own people but I am calling a spade a spade, not a garden tool.

In the past we have voted for people who did nothing to improve our lives in our area. We hardly heard them speaking in Parliament during debates. The only thing they used to do was to give the people who elected them into Parliament cabbages, soups, ‘clothing’ and a lot of unnecessary things. This is all due to lack of knowledge hence the perishing now.

It is a fact that the economy is unstable. It is also a fact that there are no jobs across all the sectors in this country. We have seen graduates roaming jobless across all our societies, ending up in prison for various cases. Then, does that mean that we can do nothing to better our lives? Through agriculture we can lift our lives, and the economy of the country. The biggest advantage of agriculture is that you are never wrong. I implore people to consider this venture, take the risk and see if it won’t be worth our lives. This will also help us to elect MPs who are going to support any agricultural initiative aimed at fighting poverty.

My constituency is blessed with a vast area just across the Ingwavuma River adjacent to Nhletjeni High School, which, to my knowledge, is for community development. But some people are keeping those farms for themselves even though they are failing to use them. This is derailing the area’s progress, while further worsening the lives of the youth of that area. There are certain mafias who boast of great power, who tend to frustrate the whole exercise.

Another factor that contributes to the area developing at a slow pace is the laziness of the youth towards venturing into agriculture initiatives. I know that funds are a challenge but this is not the case. The youth just lack the ambition to even try.
As the youth, let us not find humiliation in being seen engaging in farming yet we see no humiliation in kissing and fondling in public. Let us broaden our thinking, the world is changing, we need to change with it.

K Simelane

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