Mfomfo on Monday 15 June 09

I know where I am going to and have drawn up a route map that will get me there. What about you my friend? I have my doubts about the majority of the Swazi people because when I ask a number of them to tell me where they would like Swaziland to be in the next 4 years, they often look around to see who is listening and then confidently say they do not know. This “I do not know” response is a confirmation of lack of leadership in this country.

The leadership we have in this country is one that feels comfortable when the majority of the Swazi people do not know what to do because it becomes aware that unless it makes the first step, everybody else remains grounded. It is happy to see us behaving like wheel barrows. His Majesty has been telling his parliament that it should make the needs of the people a priority so that it is seen serving the interests of the Swazi people. The King is aware that parliament is like a toothless bull dog that makes a noise far greater than its bite. His Majesty is fully aware that the parliamentarians who were elected last year do not have an idea about Swazi politics.

Well, the truth of the matter is that we have never had a parliament in as far as I can recall because real power to make laws that have put the destiny of the Swazi people in their own hands, has never been given to any parliament since 1992 when His Majesty enacted an order with a council of ministers which order established the present parliament (allowing “direct” election to parliament under the Tinkhundla government). This was seen by the majority of Swazis as a parliament because they were no longer going to use a election college to elect people to parliament who inturn ended up choosing people they did not know. People who do not have power are so eager to please the people who can make things happen. The members of parliament of the Kingdom of Swaziland are interested in serving the interests of the King because they are fully aware that it is the King and nobody else, who makes or destroys an individual, therefore, they have to be seen to be doing what they think would please the king.

The social challenges facing the Swazi people are like a flooded river that the Swazi people want to cross but they do not know how. The leadership that we have, at the moment, does not want to show the people how to cross the flooded river. We, the led, have been asking this leadership where it has been leading us to, all along and nobody has been willing to come out and say anything to us. If ever there has been anybody saying something, on behalf of the leadership, it has been to order the few in the masses to “shut up” as the time to raise any issue had not been allocated. But now we have reached this flooded river and the rain is raining cats and dogs and it does not appear it will be over soon.

I can hear some people whispering that the leadership is hoping that it will stop raining quickly and then we will be ordered to stop until the water level in the river has subsided up to a point where we can see the bridge. This leadership has failed to come up with solutions to the problems facing us as a nation and to make things worse, they are refusing us the chance to talk about these matters of life and death. They are hoping that we will die in our numbers so that by the time they give the people of Swaziland the right to talk about the challenges, so many of them would have died anyway and those that will be left behind will not have any information to make informed decisions.

This habit of refusing people opportunities to talk about issues that affect their well being is very bad and totally unacceptable. When you have a neighbour with whom you seem to have a misunderstanding over a certain matter, it is best to engage him openly on the matter so that together you may establish some common ground. By talking to your neighbour definitely one avoids a situation whereby the neighbour may resort to some form of “Witchcraft” to put the matter to rest without anything having been said.

We at Inhlava have nothing to fear but have a lot to lose in the absence of sincere discussions, with those that hold power today, if we are not allowed to engage them under an environment conducive to free and fair negotiations on the challenges facing this nation.

As you read this article, Swaziland’s biggest trading partner has reported that its economy is going down and hundreds of thousands of jobs are disappearing. The good thing about RSA is that she is acknowledging her predicament and is planning to get herself out of the recession. She has set herself some targets. She has to be seen to be meeting the concerns of her people. This is the advantage of multi-party democracy over a non party state or an authoritarian regime. Why are we denied the right to organize ourselves in a manner that we deem appropriate for our own survival.

That we are not in power should not mean we are stupid. We are aware of the blunders and gross mistakes that are being made by those who are in power supported by their cheer leaders and we refuse to speak in silence. Think positively and you will find a role you can play to help us make the majority of the people of Swaziland want to do things differently.

Tags: Freedom, Human Rights, Inhlava, King Mswati III, Politics, Swaziland