MORE PROBLEMS, THAN SOLUTIONS PRESENTED TO KING

LOZITHA – The readiness of the country’s new legislators to improve the ailing economy was tested yesterday in front of His Majesty King Mswati III.
This comes after most of them failed a simple assignment, which they were given on the day they officially introduced themselves to the head of State.
The legislators were afforded three minutes, where they had to briefly suggest solutions on how the country’s economy could be improved.
Instead of offering solutions, a significant number of them submitted a bucketful of problems currently faced by the country, especially in the constituencies where they came from.
Problems
The submissions, which focused on the problems rather than solutions, spoiled the day for newly- appointed Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, as he had to now and again call the legislators to order.
“Ingwenyama ifuna imicondvo,” the PM said countless times which means, “The King wants solutions”.
As if that was not enough, some of the legislators literally wasted the three minutes, as they focused on their qualifications and experience in national duties and working in different parastatals.
As they spoke about their CVs and how they had worked in various government departments, one would have been forgiven for thinking that they were campaigning for certain positions.
The negative side of wasting time talking about their qualifications and experience was that when they eventually detailed their ideas, the PM would simply cut them short, saying their time was up.
Proving his authority, the PM was strict when it came to the microphone, as he made sure that none of the legislators spent more than the stipulated three minutes.
In his calm voice, the PM made it clear that the legislators had to just state their names, surnames, chiefdoms and then share their ideas on how the country could revive the economy.
First to spend more time detailing her CV was Senator Sylvia Mthethwa, who went on about how she had been appointed by His Majesty King Mswati III for various national duties.
Before she could even share what she had in mind in terms of the administration of the Regional Development Fund (RDF), Mthethwa was stopped dead in her tracks by the PM, who told her that her time was up.
Also made to stop before she could even finish off was MP Princess Phumelele, who spoiled it by first talking about how she was still waiting for the installation of her chief.
Wasting
The PM made her aware that she was wasting the few minutes that she had and advised her to go straight to sharing her ideas on the topic at hand.
The outspoken princess then went on and touched on important national issues, but could not finish as she was also told that her time was up.
To this, she responded and said she would then use the platform in Parliament to make her submissions.
Senator Busi Dlamini went on about how she had worked for years in the municipality field and mentioned how it was difficult to drive through some of the towns.
After her submission, the PM again issued a reminder that the legislators should bring solutions on how the economy could be revived, while making their submissions.
“For example, legislators must state how the tax base can be increased,” the PM suggested.
The only legislator who appeared to have read the memo well was Mafutseni MP Lady Howard Mabuza whose submission was brief and straight to the point, as she mentioned on the need for all stakeholders to work together with government so that good decisions could be taken in order to revive the economy.
After she was done, the PM mentioned that the other legislators should do likewise and be straight to the point when making their submissions.
However, there were a few legislators whose submissions were clear and offered sound solutions.
One of them was Senator Princess Ntfombiyenkhosi, who stated that the country’s situation would improve if there was harmony between Cabinet and Parliament.
Outshine
“We need to work together and stop wanting to outshine one another. Avoiding the infighting will boost the country’s economy as a lot of work will be done, especially in Parliament,” the princess said.
Siphocosini MP Mduduzi Matsebula spoke about the need to empower businesses that were owned by emaSwati and said they needed to be assisted financially through initiatives such as the King’s Trust Fund.
Also making a sound submission was Manzini North MP Macford Sibandze, who submitted that the country needed to improve its bilateral relations with other countries.
Investors
This, according to Sibandze, would be done through using all possible ways to market the country so that investors would want to come and open businesses.
Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini was also spot-on as he explained how King Mswati III International Airport and Royal Science and Technology Park could be used to boost the country’s economy.
Dlamini’s view was that the two should be used for export purposes.
Timphisini MP Nelson Mamba shared a brilliant idea on how the country could manufacture end-products.
“For example, the country sells mangoes for a meagre E800 per tonne, then the neighbouring countries make products such as ‘atchar’ which they resell at over E20 000,” he said.
Meanwhile, with some of the legislators obviously new in the game of politics, there were dos and don’ts that they had learnt while making their submissions.
Some of them were now and again reminded that they were not supposed to make submissions with hands in their pockets.

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