ALLOW PLURALITY OF POLITICAL VOICES

Sir,

It is a fact that elections within the context of the Tinkhundla political system are incapable of delivering anything new in terms of new mandate and fresh governance except for new faces in the Legislature and Cabinet.The stock-in-trade of the obtaining political hegemony is perverting the truth knowingly and mastering this art is a prerequisite for recognition and, by progression, appointment to public and political positions. Ethical leadership is anathema in this sphere.

Confirmation

Confirmation of the fact that elections under the political status quo do not change anything except personalities is the continuation of government doing the wrong things. Government is unfairly punishing these public servants for its apparent failures to respond to issues raised by emaSwati over the years, and these issues were included in the petitions that were delivered at different constituencies. Wastages on vanity and uneconomically unsustainable projects with no tangible returns are continuing unabated. Frederic Bastiat once wrote: “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in  society, over the course of time, they create for themselves a legal system that authorises it and a moral code that glorifies it.” It could well be that Bastiat had the Kingdom of Eswatini in mind when he coined this quote.

Solutions

The point government cannot prescribe solutions to the challenges facing this country without first determining why and how we got to be where we are.  One of the vices of the political status quo over the years has been to inculcate a culture of fear on the citizenry, which is the very foundation upon which Tinkhundla political system is built.  This country, whose physical size is that of a village relative to a majority of African nations, should be ranking among the top economies on the continent, but thanks to the Tinkhundla political system we are slaves to poverty while a privileged elite minority enjoys the trappings of First World countries.

Therefore, the first hard decision that ought to be taken ahead of any other if there is any seriousness in getting the country back on track is to open up the political space to allow plurality of voices. And this is exactly what authors of the National Development Strategy (NDS), upon which the First World vision is anchored, proposed way back in 1997. Had political reforms been prioritised then this country would not be in the position it is in right now.

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