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FIXATION WITH HOSTING SUMMITS

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IF there ever was any doubt that elections within the context of the Tinkhundla political system are incapable of delivering anything new in terms of new mandate and fresh governance trajectory except for new faces in the Legislature and Cabinet has been quashed by an increasing body of evidence deduced from Cabinet pronouncements and actions of government that dissipates any doubt in the minds of discerning compatriots. 

 
 After all 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 of the fact that elections under the political status quo do not change anything except personalities are Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, who is increasingly sounding more like his predecessor, and government which, like its predecessor, is doing all the wrong things. This much became evident when government waited until the last moment before going to court to challenge public service associations’ (PSAs) planned strike over cost of living adjustment (CoLA) that has not been effected for over two years.

Evidently this was done to create an environment of a national crisis with the potential to threaten national security that would, on one hand, play on government’s penchant of using its military might to crush a legal and legitimate protest by PSAs. Yet, on the other hand, it was to play on the emotions by placing Industrial Court judges in a compromising position that would leave them with no other alternative than to stop the planned strike by PSAs than leave everything to chance by allowing a legal and legitimate strike to go ahead.


 As I see it, government is unfairly punishing public servants for the apparent failures of the political status quo that allowed the rot leading to another fiscal crisis barely 10 years after government first went broke. Seemingly there were no lessons gleaned from the 2010/11 fiscus crisis notwithstanding the then PM’s pronouncements of business unusual. Wastages on vanity and uneconomically unsustainable projects and expensive foreign trips with no tangible returns continued unabated leading to the ship of state running aground yet again.


 The Speech from the Throne threw down the gauntlet for hard decisions to be taken in order to turn the situation around. While grappling with this challenge, government, in order to comprehend how and why this country is in such an economic mess, ought to reflect on Frederic Bastiat when he wrote: “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a 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 in mind when he coined this quote. 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.


 Upon his return from representing the King in a heads of state and government African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the PM was quoted by the press saying something to the effect that the economic downturn was not peculiar to the kingdom but was also affecting other countries. That defensive posture is not wise and is in fact ill advised considering the factors responsible for running this country to the ground. Unfortunately the truth is not currency of the Tinkhundla political system hence not even the PM can lance the boil. Yes, 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.


 The PM, in appearing to romanticise the country’s economic woes as universal, apparently forgot that ours has been the worst performing economy in the region and beyond over a good number of years now. Yet the United Nations classifies this country under the medium income category, which means the majority of the people ought to be within the middle class band instead of languishing in poverty.

In effect this country, whose physical size is that of a village relative to a majority of African nations in general, and our two neighbouring countries South Africa and Mozambique, in particular, and a corresponding relatively small population 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.


 As I see it, the first hard decision that ought to be taken ahead of any other if there is any seriousness in reviving the economic fortunes of the kingdom is to open up the political space to allow plurality of voices. This would create a conducive climate for attracting foreign direct investments essential for lubricating the economy deriving from a predictable and transparent political environment. And this is exactly what authors of the National Development Strategy (NDS) upon which Vision 2022 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.


 Once the political climate has been normalised only then can the rest of the wish list of hard decisions be finalized and my contributions to this end are; reducing Cabinet portfolios to 12; stop all vanity projects; revisit and review mining legislation and policy framework to ensure transparency and accountability in licensing and for the nation to benefit directly from the exploitation of mineral resources; abolish the concept of national assets being held in trust; review and reduce foreign diplomatic missions abroad; put on ice all national celebrations; put a moratorium on recruitment of personnel for security forces. The list is not exhaustive but is limited by the absence of freedom of expression under the obtaining polity.
 
Finally, I have not stopped wondering about government’s fixation with hosting summits and meetings for regional and continental bodies. This to the point that government had to invest E4.2 billion – and still counting – on a venue to host an AU summit that may not happen in 2020. It is as if government wants recognition and endorsement of its legitimacy that is mystifying to say the least.

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