BIGGER CHIEFDOMS VS SMALLER ONES: VOTERS, BOGALAJANE DECRY UNFAIRNESS

MBABANE – As the nation gears up for the secondary stage of the general elections, a debate over the voter strength of chiefdoms has come to the fore.

Some campaign agents, who are widely referred to as bogalajane, have raised concern that the size of chiefdoms, where candidates are nominated, is the key determining factor in the eventual results. In their view, the bigger chiefdoms have an advantage over the smaller ones, because by virtue of having a high number of voters, their candidates for the position of Member of Parliament (MP) are almost guaranteed. They said the current scenario does not promote individual merit and that in the end, Parliament will have incompetent people. This is despite the fact that in the past, there had been quite a number of candidates who won despite that they came from smaller chiefdoms.

smaller chiefdom

One of the campaign agents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said while he was not scared of the challenge of ensuring that his candidate secured the much needed votes, he was demotivated by that it was almost a sure case that he might not make it as he came from a smaller chiefdom. Another one said: “The size of the chiefdoms is the reason why one and the same people end up being voted into Parliament most of the time. In the end, this compromises the quality. It is a fact that as emaSwati, we are tribalistic by nature, so we will vote for a person that we know in our chiefdom.” Elaborating, the agent said relying on the data which comes from the chiefdoms needed to be reviewed at some point. “From the results of the primary elections, we have chiefdoms where the citizens who registered are less than 500 as they come from smaller chiefdoms. In some bigger chiefdoms, there are around 3 000 registered voters, so this does pose a challenge,” said the agent.

won because of numbers

A former MP, who was part of the 10th Parliament, concurred with the view by saying: “The former politicians said the fact that people won because of numbers instead of individual merit was discouraging. “This makes the chiefdom turn into a party and this is not good if we say we practice democracy. As a country, we need to come up with a plan that will accommodate the minority chiefdoms,” he said. The former MP was asked to state what the solution could be in order to ensure that the concern was addressed. He suggested that since the aim was to build the country and make it better, the exercise should be conducted in such a way that once the people had registered and it was known how many people each inkhundla had, the different numbers should then be added and then divided. “You will then have a representative figure where the equal number of people from each chiefdom will go to the polls to vote for these people. So each umphakatsi will have the same number of people who will go to vote for the candidates who have won the primary elections. In the end, there will be a fair chance for each of the candidates to win the elections,” he said.

vetoing the minority

He said currently, the exercise was vetoing the minority and the fairness aspect was taken away. Also speaking was Joel Kunene, a registered voter at Mdzimba Umphakatsi under Mbabane East Inkhundla. He said while the size of the chiefdom could influence the end results, there was another aspect which made candidates not amass the many votes they needed.
He said one can come from a big constituency but that if the people did not bother about coming out to participate in the elections, chances of producing an MP were slim. “And then it can be a small chiefdom and if its people come out in their numbers to vote, they can produce an MP. Currently, we have a challenge because some residents do not bother. Here at Mdzimba, there are about 8 000 residents, but those who participated at nomination stage were 1 600 and it does not mean that they will vote during the secondary stage. If emaSwati can come out in their numbers, this concern would not exist at all,” Kunene said. Following the concern, the Times SUNSDAY engaged the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Deputy Chairperson, Sipho Tembe, who said emaSwati should not fear anything especially since the elections were now going for the secondary stage. Tembe said the fortunate thing was that when it came to the secondary elections, the focus was not on chiefdoms but at tinkhundla level.

favours everyone

“The ground favours everyone. What it means is that even the ones who got a high number of votes from their chiefdoms, it is no longer about their chiefdoms. It is the inkhundla level when a candidate just needs to mobilise and prove to the other chiefdoms who you are and what you are bringing. So I am saying now that we are at secondary stage, we are equal,” said Tembe. He said as long as a candidate would be able to convince the electorate, they would have a higher chances of winning irrespective of the size of the umphakatsi where they were nominated. The Kingdom of Eswatini is governed through the Tinkhundla system of government which is embedded on its rich tradition and cultural norms. The system of government is provided for in Section 79 of the Constitution of Eswatini (2005), which states that the country is a democratic, participatory, tinkhundla-based system, which emphasises devolution of state power from central government to tinkhundla areas. The system encompasses administrative subdivisions of the country for purposes of political organisation and popular representation of the people in Parliament. The tinkhundla areas are typically referred to as constituencies. In essence, tinkhundla are the political hub of the system. The country’s elections are conducted under the various tinkhundla (constituencies) which are established by the King on the recommendation of the EBC.

administrative regions

The tinkhundla are spread over the country’s four administrative regions namely: Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini and Shiselweni. An inkhundla consists of one or more divisions commonly referred to as chiefdoms (imiphakatsi)/polling divisions, which function as nomination areas for elected members at primary level elections. It also acts as a constituency for the election of members of the House at secondary level elections. The number of tinkhundla translates into the number of seats in the House of Assembly in Parliament. Currently, there are 59 tinkhundla and 336 chiefdoms/polling divisions in total. The basis for election or appointment to public office is through individual merit as stated in Section 79 of the Constitution. Such candidates are commonly referred to as an independent candidate. The independent candidate is a direct representative of the inkhundla and has to be accountable to the electorate.
The candidate should be of good standing in the community.

The conduct of the general elections in the Kingdom of Eswatini is a demonstration of an electoral process that has evolved positively over the last three decades. MPs were elected by an Electoral College, while indvuna yenkhundla and bucopho were appointed by the traditional structures. It should also be noted that voting was open. The transition to the current electoral process was informed by a series of consultations with relevant stakeholders commissioned by His Majesty the Ingwenyama, which culminated in the current provisions where all elective offices are elected by the electorate through a secret ballot.

voter registration

The first stage of the electoral process is voter registration, which is commissioned by His Majesty through a writ specifying the dates of the entire election process. The voters register is validated through a process, which leads to the production of a final roll. The second stage is nomination of candidates in each elective office. This is done at chiefdom or polling divisions where registered voters openly nominate at least three to twenty nominees per category. Each nominee is supported by 10 registered voters. In the primary election stage, nominated candidates contest for the three elective offices at chiefdom level. The election of bucopho is concluded at this stage, wherein the candidate with the majority of the votes becomes the winner. The winners for the other elective offices (indvuna yenkhundla and MP) qualify to contest in the secondary elections at inkhundla level.

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