YOU ARE THE WORST PM - RUSSELL TOLD

MBABANE – You are the worst!

The above bold statement was directed to the Prime Minister (PM), Russell Mmiso Dlamini by The Nation Magazine Editor Bheki Makhubu, during the Eswatini Editors Forum breakfast meeting held at the Mountain View Hotel, yesterday. It happened after the PM had given a response that had an unpleasant tone directed at Times of Eswatini Managing Editor (ME) Martin Dlamini. The PM’s unpleasant tone came in the form of him saying that questions posed by the ME were just an opinion, yet most of them were issues of public interest and touched on service delivery. Also, some of the questions were focused on issues that have been raised in other forums, including Parliament and Sibaya. Martin first acknowledged the PM for presenting the Government Policy Statement and then posed his questions.

Dragged

Among other things, the ME expressed his loss of confidence in the arrests currently taking place within the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), stating that only the small fry were being arrested, not the big fish. Also, he said he had no confidence in the Judiciary itself, since cases dragged for too long. He then asked if the PM will make it a priority that the Judiciary issues are sorted. The ME said the PM’s government is creating high expectations, especially reading from the Policy Statement and that the country is from an era where the nation gathered at the Sibaya and demanded that actions needed to be louder than words.

Expectation

Also, the ME said there was an expectation from a promise of excellence in terms of service delivery, but that he is extremely disappointed about the implementation. He made an example of schools opening, saying government knew the date, but did not provide all the necessary resources and commodities needed, including electricity and food for them to operate smoothly. Furthermore, the ME said he acknowledged that the ministries had come up with strategies, but that there is a need for timelines.  The ME asked to know how far government has gone in terms of solving the drugs shortage in public hospitals and whether those who were found to have contributed to the challenge had been taken to task. When it was time for the PM to respond to the ME, he first asked to know which is better between looking down upon oneself and believe they are useless or to create hope for the country and point her towards the right direction.

Disappointed

He said he would rather government ignite confidence and pride in the country such that the nation would be determined to be the best. “In fact, I am very disappointed, I must say. Maybe, that will come towards the end of my response. It is extra ordinary important that all of us when we come out of this place, we come out jubilant and excited that government has good intentions.  “In fact, if you look at the old strategies that people have in most organisations, it is just a documentation of what has been done, what needs to be done, whether you sleep or wake up, whether there is a useless leader or not, it has to be done. Is that what you expect us to do? No. We want our plans to be ambitious,” he said.

He said in any case, the plans he spoke of are not thumb sucked, but are a mandate from concerns raised by the people at the Sibaya. “If you think that creates high expectation, too bad. That is our mandate and we will pursue them, otherwise we will have to sleep and not come to the office.” Regarding the issue of the ACC arresting only the small fish, the PM said that was just an opinion. The PM then accused the Times Group of Newspapers of always focusing on the negative and that he did not expect anything positive from them. “I am saying this because I mean, you have to get what you give me. In terms of arrests, if you think the ACC is not doing its job, it is your own opinion, it is negative. Disappointed by the lack of a proper plan to schools, it is your own opinion, take it,” said the PM.

Failed

Reacting to a question whether the Performance Management System (PMS) would work this time around having failed in the past, the PM spoke about the need to change the mindset and to think before they asked questions or believed what is reported in the local media, as it is negative. The PM shared that a colleague told him how he boarded a shuttle from Johannesburg to Eswatini and was shocked at the level of negativity in the country, such that he could not believe that there is anything positive in the country. He said he hope that the editors remember what he told them when they had their first meeting, which was to contribute to changing the mindset of the country. As if that is not enough, the PM said he is utterly shocked that the King had been busy touring business entities, but that none of the media people had even recognised, since all they look for is negativity.

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