MPS REJECT F17/18 BUDGET

Sir,

The news that Members of Parliament rejected the F17/18 budget came as a surprise to many Swazis, this given the track record of Members of Parliament. 
The interesting question is: what is it that has motivated our MPs to realise that the recently announced budget is not ‘people friendly’?

Could this sudden awakening by the MPs be prompted by the fact that we are fast approaching election time in 2018? It was indeed a surprise for a number of reasons; 1) This was the very same Parliament that allowed government to spend scarce revenue on vanity projects such as the under construction Ezulwini hotel and convention centre. 2) This was the very same Parliament that allowed government to procure a white elephant in the form of a jet for Swazi Airways, which I understand is lying idle at great cost to the taxpayers. 3) This is the very same Parliament that approved a mind boggling E20 increase of the elderly grants in the F16/17 financial year. 4) This is the very same Parliament that watched helplessly as the citizens were ravaged by a severe drought in the F16/17 year with essentially no intervention by government. 5) This is the same Parliament that watches their communities share drinking water with livestock; have what used to be unpaved roads turned into mere animal tracks.

The atrocities committed by these parliamentarians and their predecessors are well documented. Our government has never bothered about focusing on a ‘people friendly’ budget; they have always been obsessed with spending our meager resources on not only questionable projects but some of them are really bizarre.

If better resourced countries like Botswana are privatising their airline, only God knows why our government is doing the exact opposite, given our extremely stressed revenue position.
Despite all the clearly reckless behaviour by our parliamentarians in the past, the recent stance is welcome; it is like a breath of fresh air.
The million Dollar question is: do our parliamentarians have the guts to stand their ground?
Only time will tell, but their past performance speaks volumes, I have in mind that peculiar and still born idea of a vote of no confidence on the prime minister. Nevertheless, it is better late than never.
To the MPs we are watching your every step hournable ones and with 2018 around the corner, I am hopeful that you will be galvanised into serious action and perhaps the next one that you should tackle is the crazy 15 per cent electricity tariff that has been approved by SERA.

Hanger
MHLUME

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