ESWATINI BADLY GOVERNED

Sir,

If I didn’t know any better I would say government was staging a coup d’état either against itself or the Tinkhundla political system. If emaSwati had not opted to spend their whole life waiting to start living they would be the patriots in the forefront of defending the Kingdom of Eswatini from destructive tendencies. Or perhaps it is the knowledge that emaSwati walk through life like zombies that may be causal to government’s penchant for its historical suicidal tendencies knowing very well that nothing would happen however much it tramples on the people.

Potential

With a potential at independence in 1968 of becoming the oyster of the continent given its relatively small manageable geographical size with an equally small population yet plentifully endowed with natural resources, the kingdom has failed to live up to its potential as a medium to high income country with the majority of the people shackled by poverty. With good governance and visionary leadership anchored on the institution of the monarchy, this country would have exploited its special attributes to be on the cutting edge on many fronts; heavily invested in its small human capital to become the most literate and educated nation per capita on the continent; employed its human capital to transform the country into an international academic and centre of learning of choice; pioneered high-end health and medical facilities to establish a thriving medical tourism industry; the list is endless. Silhouetted against this optimistic picture of a dynamic and highly mobile successful nation is the reality of a country in decay whose citizens have been forced to look elsewhere for a better life, better education, better health facilities and a net consumer of information technology and scientific innovations, etc.

Creativity

This is all thanks to a government lacking in creativity and innovation, itself a product of a dysfunctional political system that has aggressively and systematically driven the majority of the people into a conspiracy of silence and inaction for fear of the unknown. Instead of exploiting the full potential of the kingdom, government has tended to expend resources on security to enforce superficial peace by silencing the people as well as recklessly spending on uneconomical and unsustainable projects. Projects like a new Parliament ought to be canned until the cash flow position of government improves and focus must be on priorities such as education, improving the healthcare delivery system and humanitarian interventions to reduce poverty, among others. EmaSwati are going through life without living because on one hand they fear their government and, on the other hand, gave up their power because they thought they did not have any.

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