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NOW WE ARE FREE – KING

21/04/2018 09:41:00 BY STANLEY KHUMALO

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MANZINI – EmaSwati may not have been aware that they were not entirely free from the bondage of colonialism despite having attained Independence in 1968.

At least not until on Thursday when the King declared a new name for the country, further explaining that the name change was a sign that the country was reasserting its own identity.
This move marked a step away from the colonialism, according to political experts.

From now on, the country will be known as the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Research states that a name change is often done for political or nationalistic reasons such as removing traces of colonial rule or reflecting the ideologies of the government in power.
“A country or state may also change its name for purely commemorative reasons, especially in honour of an influential person or an important event in the country. A country may also change its name to improve their image and to erase an unpleasant event or memory in its history.”

In his speech when he made the announcement, the King said, “As we are aware, the name Swaziland was inherited from the British.
If we are to give true meaning to our independence, time has come to give our country a name of its people. It must be said that this process is long overdue, particularly if you consider how other countries in the region localised their names soon after independence.”

He said the nation is now EmaSwati and further announced, “Therefore, I have the pleasure to present to you, on this historic day, a new name for the kingdom. Our country will now be called; “Kingdom of Eswatini”.
“Maswati, you deserve to stand proud of turning the tide during all times of difficulties we have gone through as a nation. Our goal as Emaswati is to stand together and confront any problem head-on and this has taken us thus far. Let us continue to work as a nation in order to contribute to the sustainable development of our nation.”

The King has been referring to the kingdom as Eswatini years before the official name change but this did not stop the thousands of revellers who were attending festivities from bursting into applause at the declaration.
During the celebrations, the King listed a series of milestones that the country has achieved which include existing structures to fight HIV/AIDS, investment in infrastructure development and allowing about 97 per cent of school-going children access to education.

“We also congratulate you for achieving great success in the eradication of malaria, which led to the country assuming chairmanship of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA). Let us maintain this record for the next 50 years.”
Infrastructure development is marked by the high quality road network that is at par with the best in the region, continent and the world at large.

On access to clean water and electricity he noted the remarkable improvement resulting in over 90 per cent of the people enjoying these essential commodities.
“The country is now ranked third among the southern African power pool members, in terms of giving our people access to electricity.”
Initiatives that the King highlighted were on food self sustainability where he noted a scale up on subsidy level which resulted to improved yield per hectare.

“We have also been able to provide several empowerment initiatives that have made a significant contribution to poverty alleviation. These include, but not limited to, providing resources for the regional development fund, Phalala fund, youth enterprise fund and the orphaned and vulnerable children education fund.”
Even though the annual gift of peace that the King has always requested from the nation was not a talking point this year, he did mention that, “Peace has become an elusive commodity across the globe, but we are proud to count it as one of the most significant milestones of the 50 years since independence.”

He said the Kingdom of Eswatini has been internationally renowned as a haven of peace, harmony and stability.
“We applaud EmaSwati for fully embracing the philosophy of solving their differences in a peaceful manner. Differing viewpoints will always emerge in any society which makes it important to provide forums, such as sibaya, that accommodates diverse views” the King added.

The event that started at about 10am and lasted until 3pm was graced by the presence of the President of Taiwan Tsai Ingwen, Vice President of the Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangwe and other dignitaries.
People from all walks of life gathered at the arena as early as 6am and by 8am the stadium was almost filled to capacity.

The celebrations could not have been successful without supplementary equipment like live television screen which the King also acknowledged.
“We applaud the efforts to provide live screening of the celebration at stadiums in the other regions to ensure that nobody is left out due to the lack of space at this venue, since this is a great milestone in our history. We also welcome the viewers from across Africa who have tuned in to television, as well as the listeners following proceedings on our national radio.”