Mfomfo on Monday 8 February 2010

How many of our folks should die in the hands of these Health personnel?

May I start off by apologizing to the blog readers for the two weeks absence. I lost my mother-in-law. It was a terrible experience and I do hope that I will never go through such an experience again.

Way back in the good old days (early 1980s), there used to be a hospital in Swaziland called Raleigh Fitkin Memorial. It was the biggest in Manzini. It was run by Missionary doctors of the Nazarene Church(International). In those days a sickly person would be admitted with a view to have her condition monitored by medical practitioners with a willing support staff. I have always read of terrible experiences people narrated at the hands of qualified health personnel in our hospitals and I always thought nothing of this kind would ever happen to any relative of mine. At the moment I think I should pray deeply to the Lord God Almighty never to let me go to any of our public hospitals, especially if I am not well, until I have done something together with my fellow country men to change for the better, the services rendered to fellow Swazis and those who occasionally visit Swaziland.

As an African man, it is not important for me to know what kind of disease my relative is suffering from but it is very important that when the relative is taken to a hospital he/she gets the appropriate treatment to relieve her suffering. In this particular case, my mum in law was taken to this hospital, Raleigh Fitkin Memorial, about two weeks before she passed away. She had suffered a minor stroke. The doctors just gave her some medication and then a prescription was given to her for her relatives to get some tablets from the nearest pharmacy as the hospital had run out of drugs. We were then told to take her home because the medical practitioner told us she would get better. Please do not forget that in this part of the world there is no health insurance, to allow those without means of getting reasonable health service in decent hospitals, to guarantee their right to life. If I had the means I would have had her taken to a private hospital or clinic (whatever that means in a country like Swaziland). She eventually became weak two weeks later and we decided to take her to the hospital again.

When we got there we were told that we had to get her a hospital card that would be used by the practitioners and qualified personnel to write any treatment they would give to her. This took close to 20 minutes as the system of keeping records is manual. When my wife returned with the card she gave it to the nurse who was busy doing something else. My mother-in-law signaled for my wife’s attention and she came closer to her. She whispered something to her and then took a deep breadth which happened to be the last. My wife closed her eyes and proceeded to the nurse, who was still busy doing whatever she was doing. When she told the nurse what had just happened the nurse was visibly shaken and dashed to my mother-in-law’s bed only to confirm what my wife had told her. The doctor was called and he could do nothing other than asking how long the patient had been in the emergency room.

We were then told that since my mother-in-law had passed away without having been attended to by the doctor she would be classified as someone who had passed outside the hospital premises and there was no way the hospital could issue a death certificate. This is disgusting. Where do we run to in such circumstances? Who is the master of the health personnel in this case? Is not the patient supposed to be the master? What do we have to do to get it right?

Let this tragic development teach every Swazi the importance of highlighting the difficulties that they go through in their struggle for survival. I now understand why President B. H. Obama of USA is overhauling the Health service sector by coming up with an insurance bill to allow millions of Americans access to better health services. There is a great and urgent need to make Swazis realize that they are the masters in Swaziland and they can set the standards for everyone who is employed by the Civil Service Commission.

Mfomfo on Monday 18  January 2010

Why do leaders become irrelevant to the people they lead?

It is not every time that people think good of their leaders or of the people they know, but circumstances or change of fortunes may bring people close or push them away from those that they hold dear to their hearts. In a family unit, it is the hour of need and the head of the family’s ability to provide material needs and emotional comfort that help in strengthening the family bond between the head and the children. It is also the sincerity and the openness of the members of the family to one another that further cements the peculiar bonding of the family members. There is no position left for one member to be indifferent to the plight of another. If the resources are found to be dwindling, sacrifices are made in order to help the member who is in need of the resources.

Swaziland is reportedly facing a situation that has not been imagined by the powers that be, that of dwindling resources. Revenue from Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) has dropped by over 50% yet SACU has been responsible for over 50% of total revenue. His Majesty’s government Prime Minister, the illegal Dr Sibusiso Dlamini, has ordered the Finance Minister to revise next financial year’s budget downward by 14%. According to the Prime Minister, some cost saving measures will have to be implemented. In a country where there is a lot of secrecy, it becomes difficult to implement cost saving measures because there is no transparency in the allocation and utilization of resources.

I am also aware that in such situations it is the common man who is on the receiving end because the projects that are to benefit him, are the ones that are being targeted. In this country the allocation of resources has never been done in the open (getting an approval of those who should benefit the most). I used an example of a family unit to illustrate the point that we ought to have something in common with the leadership of this country. If a country’s leadership is focusing on a picture that is known to it alone, then in many moments, there will never be the development of a common language. In Swaziland there is no common language between the leadership and those that are being led.

In the past, Swaziland has been warned not to rely on the SACU receipts for is revenue but such warnings have fallen on deaf ears. It is not because we are dumb that we should have a leadership whose ears are full of wax. The silence of the Swazis has promoted the insensitivity of the leadership to the plight of the common man. His Majesty has said Swazis have to look at ways of helping the government come up with other sources of revenue. This seems like a fair comment but I do find this tactic very disturbing because it is very difficult for His Majesty’s subjects to rally behind the King because His government has always taken them for a ride in too many occasions.

The Minister for Finance has become a champion in saying one and the same thing repeatedly. He has been telling Swazis that the wage bill is getting out of hand since 2000. People naturally get bored listening to one and the same tune repeatedly. In the midst of this disturbing wage bill, that has not been making sense, salaries for civil servants and politicians have continued to move upwards, a sign showing that there is nobody in the corridors of power prepared to think and do things differently. We are aboard a bus whose driver is not paying attention to all the signals that should help him be in good control of the vehicle.

It is very important to remind ourselves that for our economy to perform better than it is doing, there is need for government to play a significant role in the creation of employment. Unfortunately this government is not obliged to create jobs because it is not answerable to the people. Employment creation is top of the priority list for developed countries with fair governance because it is through job creation that people’s dreams are realized. It is through employment creation that seeds of hope for the future are sown. It is through job creation that families are sustained. It is through job creation that seeds of hope are planted for the survival of our children.

A leadership that is devoid of the true aspirations of the masses will always focus on the things that do not matter to the people’s survival. It is quite clear that the Free Primary Education initiative will not be sustainable with the dwindling coffers of His Majesty’s government. If political decisions were taken to establish additional potfolios for certain specific individuals resulting in an increase in civil service size then it should be easy again to make another political decision to reduce the number of potfolios and decrease the civil service size. How is that? Please do not look for solutions outside Swaziland. The greatest assets we have in this country are the Swazi people. What do youthink?

Mfomfo on Monday 11 January 2010

Please take a stand today to be amongst those who will make Swaziland a better country than what she is, for the sake of our children.

May I welcome you back from the little rest you have had over the festive season. Those that have been fortunate enough to have had some money to spend with their families are surely winding up their holidays and have made resolutions for the next 12 months. It is my belief that the resolutions they have made over the holidays are going to have a positive impact on the people they interact with on a daily basis. I also pray that the spin-offs from their resolutions will have a ripple effect on a greater number of Swazi lives like a stone dropping into a pool of water.

I am also clearly aware that a big majority of the Swazi people have long forgotten about the festive season because when a person suddenly becomes aware of the need to join family members or have an imposed holiday period, it becomes a period of temporary relief from the pressure exerted by life’s challenges which appear to be an insurmountable mountain on one’s pathway to an elusive life style.

Some how I have this hope in me that the poor man can also make a new start this year by telling himself that he has been in a position that has not helped him in becoming a better person than what he has been. He can make new resolutions that will see him live a better life than what he has been used to. He needs to realize that he has the potential to change his immediate environment first before he can change his society. As poor Swazis, there is need to change our attitudes towards life. It is not acceptable to continue classifying ourselves as a group of people who have to look up to those in authority (His Majesty and the Queen Mother) even for things that we can do much better for ourselves than them. We are aware there is very little we can do about the climate but there is a lot we can do about fighting poverty. When we use our brains to think of ways of getting out of poverty we will find it easy to start engaging ourselves on issues that we should have addressed decades ago such as political roles we can play in the governance of this country. We, the people of Swaziland, have to tell ourselves that it is not acceptable to us and our children to see as far as the end of our nose. I, for one, have discovered that I can see as far as the sun, which is million of miles away, therefore, I will not allow any man to tell me what not to see and what to see.

I will continue to make my fellow country men see and hear what others are afraid to tell them to look at and listen to. I am not blind, neither am I a deaf man nor dump to keep my opinions and analysis to myself. I am aware that a nation that has a great number of people languishing in poverty has this greatest difficulty of robbing itself of a number of people who could be using their brains to fight poverty and social injustice.

The Swazi people are not different from people that are mentally arrested. We, the poor people, have been deceived by those that are living on the bread crumbs from the first table that there is not much we can do to get out of poverty because His Majesty’s government is not helping us financially. Well, that could be true but it is not the fundamental reason. When people are mentally arrested they tend to be afraid to think outside the box but tend to think along the expectations of those that are in power and with monetary power.

Let us not be intimidated by the rewards that are given to those that have surrendered their ability to think independently to those that are in authority and monetary power. These rewards are very unpredictable and it is a tragedy to have our children being brought up in an environment where they are taught to think differently from those with both political and monetary power is a bad thing to do. These children are being prepared to be inferior human beings in a free world and will definitely find it difficult to stand on their own and advance their beliefs even when they are right in all respects. Please take a stand today to help not only yourself but our children too. Survival is a team effort but never an individual effort. It is a fact that you have to face certain challenges on your own but it becomes easy when you realise how much you can achieve working together with fellow country men joined by certain principles and values.

It is my hope that finally you will realize that this country has a great asset in you and the time has come to make yourself useful. Please position yourself in an area where the authorities realize your potential and your mental contribution in the development of this country is paramount to their survival too. It is time you show Swaziland there is no Swaziland without you and your mental contribution.

Mfomfo on Monday 21 December 09

Swazis are denied opportunities to make mistakes and learn few basic life skills from their experiences.

Way back in the mid 60s, when I was a little boy, I learned some things the hard way. It was the natural curiosity that got me to discover new things (what to do and what not to do). Growing up in rural Swaziland did not expose me to an environment with some glass ware in my immediate environment and the word glass was added at a rather late stage to my vocabulary compared to those who grew up in urban areas. I am told that I used to give my mum a headache each time she lit up the paraffin lamp. I am told that I would be interested in touching the naked flame. In order to teach me the danger associated with the naked flame she would hold my hand and bring it very close to the naked flame up to a point where I could feel the heat and then she would let go off my hand as I pulled it away. My curiosity, coupled with guidance from my mum, taught me about the dangers of a naked flame.

In this country, the authorities of the land are denying the Swazis the opportunities of making mistakes when it comes to politics and economic development. Swazis are not given chances to make certain decisions that would improve their lot instead they are reminded now and again to wait for orders from the authorities who are never thinking about the welfare of the Swazis. A people who are not given the opportunity to be in charge of their destiny become a burden to themselves and to their neighbours. The Swazis have become a burden to the South Africans and very soon they will become a burden to the Mozambicans because of the rapid economic growth of Mozambique.

The recent political differences that have manisfested themselves amongst the alliance partners making up the ruling party has brought up something that can only be witnessed in a democratic state where the leadership does not believe in throwing all kinds of hurdles in the path of those who hold different views to it on any subject matter. The public spat between the SACP leadership and the ANC’s Youth Leadership got out of hand but thanks to the wise leadership of the ANC that moved swiftly to restore order. It was a pity to see the differences in opinions degenerating to personal attacks on both parties. The decisive responses of both leadership of the ANC and SACP to institute some disciplinary measures on both wayward concerned individuals was good for the alliance. Julius Malema of the ANC youth has a lot to learn when it comes to valuing the importance of the alliance. It would be suicidal to the ANC to dump the SACP and go with COSATU alone. The SACP might appear like a small group but its voice is very important when it comes to who should be in government because every vote counts when it comes to winning elections.

The good thing to have come out of this infighting is the agreement on the need to have rules of engagement that will be followed by both parties whenever they engage each other on any subject matter. This will help the alliance and further help the ANC in coming up with rules of engagement for its internal structures because it is becoming clear that the Malemas’ breed will become a liability to the ANC if not brought under control (not with a view to curb freedom of speech and diversity in opinion). It is very important to allow people to group themselves so as to have those who share common ideals come together and find a role for themselves to play in the governance of the affairs of any state. If people are not allowed to group themselves and have their groups to contest for power then the set up favours a dictatorship (where one man makes all the decisions for the advancement of his interests).

In Swaziland we are not allowed to group ourselves and then contest for power. The authorities of the land (King and his messengers) think we do not have anything between our two ears. The King is afraid of creating an enabling environment for political maturity and economic growth because he and his messengers are afraid of letting the Swazis be in charge of their destiny. In the absence of political parties there cannot be any rules of engagement with Swazis because the Swazis do not belong to this country. They are a people who are on transit with no known destination. Any sound Swazi has to stop looking up to the authorities of the land for guidance but to his fellow country men for better ideas on how to help themselves. I pray that you have a good time this Christmas even in these hard economic times. God bless you my friend.

Mfomfo on Monday 14 December 09

Does Swaziland need a Commission to fight graft/corruption?

The Swazi people are a people who do not make time to look at certain things that are happening around them with a view to learn a thing or two that they can use to better their lives. They have the tendency to look up to certain people for guidance and advice even when those individuals have nothing in common with them. Those that have been hand-picked to serve the interest of the King and the Royal Household like to portray the image that they have been hand picked by the King to serve the interest of the masses.

The King has no interest in knowing how they are going to address the social problems/difficulties facing this nation because it is not what he has in mind. The King does not draw up any policy that these hand-picked individuals must follow when taking up office. His Majesty becomes loud and clear in situations where his interests appear compromised by His government.

In a bid to be seen following innovations undertaken by other developed countries, the hand-picked messengers sometimes stray off like a herd of cattle without a cow boy into areas that tend to annoy the King. By now most of the blog readers are in agreement that the King is not compatible with the rule of law and or the independence of the judiciary. He is finding it easy to push aside the rule of law because he is the King of the land and most of those who help him in matters of governance of the Kingdom of Swaziland are afraid to have him on the opposite side of the line due to the remunerations they get at the end of the month or term of office.

This country cannot begin to make a fight against corruption under the present political system (if there is any). What I can tell you with confidence is that the fight against corruption was never an initiative taken by the King. It was engineered outside the Kingdom with the messengers coming into the picture in a bid to convince the King it was the right thing to do in light of the looting that was becoming rampant in government ministries. Well, when it comes to looting of funds there are a number of intelligent Swazis who know how to do it by following the approved procedures of doing government business.

Let me remind you that in this country all powers are held by His Majesty King Mswati lll. He makes things happen. He appoints judges of the High court and Supreme Court. He appoints the Chief justice. He appoints people into all Commissions. He appoints Cabinet ministers. In a nut shell, the King runs the country because it is his country and everyone else is simply a tool of convenience to be utilised whenever the situation demands.  Last week listening to a professor at an institution in RSA the professor said it is bad to have one person having a lot of power because the tendency is for some people to abuse that power held by that particular individual. In as far as this society is concerned the King has to take the lead in the fight against corruption. But the King can never do it because he has put himself in situations where he has been taken advantage of by those who are acquainted to him.

The King has sent certain individuals on special assignments. Those individuals report to no other person other than the King. If these individuals have benefitted irregularly from those assignments they cannot be questioned because that would be unSwazi. If the King decides to come to the defence of any of his acquaintances then the matter cannot be pursued any further.

We need to change the political set-up and have a new political dispensation in which not all the power will be vested on one person. His Majesty has to have a minimum role to play in the governance of this country. If I may borrow words from a friend who has since passed on to another world (Peter Forbes) “We need to shake off the tree vigorously so that all the baboons and monkeys in it may fall off then we will enjoy the shade under the blazing heat of the sun” Enjoy your festive season my friend but we will be around to keep you posted.