VICIOUS CYCLE OF DEPENDENCY

Sir,

Looking at the numerous interrelated challenges that we face as a country, one can safely say we need to address matters concerning peace, security, youth, women, inclusive economic growth, health and governance.

Addressing all these challenges is hardly about snapping fingers; it requires consistent implementation of key policies and of course funding. The source of this much needed funding needs to primarily come from government. It is all about a simple principle of controlling your own destiny.

But at the moment this is hardly the case. An extensive list of the country’s challenges are being addressed with foreign aid and this problem has been summed up with the buzzword, ‘donor dependency’.

Initiative

On the surface, foreign aid might seem like a good initiative as it allows the country to allocate resources to other areas while the international community funds the rest. In reality, these arrangements take us backwards and don’t allow us to play the role we need to play in the global arena.

Funds

In today’s Eswatini it is common to find instances where national programmes are kept afloat by foreign funds. To put it mildly, this is unacceptable.
I am not against partnering with foreign governments or agencies on certain initiatives but at the moment, we cannot run away from these words; “He who feeds you, controls you.” In other words, it would be extremely naïve to expect other countries to give us so much without expecting them to influence our direction and decisions as a country. If Eswatini continues to rely so heavily on foreign assistance, how can we really expect to have a meaningful voice at international fora like the UN and others?

Free

Our quest to break free from this vicious cycle of dependency is certainly not an overnight process but our future depends on it.  Achieving ‘the country we want hinges so much on our ability to get our house in order, deliberately creating a country that can fully support the aspirations of its people.

For this to happen we need to put our money where our mouth is and start funding our own direction. When the African Union speaks of ‘African solutions for African problems’, it is a call to action that we all need to take seriously.

Chris

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