EXCITEMENT AS MARCH TO US EMBASSY GETS NOD

MBABANE – The multi-stakeholder forum registered their excitement after the Ezulwini Municipality issued a compliance certificate giving the  green light for their proposed march to the US Embassy.

The stakeholder forum includes the Institute for Democracy and Leadership (IDEAL) and the Political Party Assembly (PPA) among others. The march is scheduled to take place tomorrow, after it was postponed last week for different reasons. It was alleged that one of the reasons for the postponement was that the marchers had not received the compliance certificate yet it was a requirement as per the provisions of the Public Order Act. PPA member and Deputy Convener, Sibongile Mazibuko, said she was hoping that there would be no challenges with the police. She invited members to arrive in numbers and assemble next to the Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) near the bridge at Lobamba where the march would begin. She urged the members to wear their masks and comply with the COVID-19 regulations.

IDEAL Chairperson Barnes Dlamini said he would celebrate tomorrow because he was taught that he should not be overly-excited over something that had been agreed on paper. He stated that the police gave assurance although they made it clear that it was beyond them as they wanted to send a certain message to the Americans, maintaining that the march would be peaceful. He urged marshals to work together in ensuring that everything was peaceful.  Ezulwini Municipality Chief Executive Officer Vusi Matsebula, when asked what motivated them to issue the certificate of compliance, said they followed the Public Order Act, 2017 to the letter.

Agenda

Matsebula stated that in the meeting with the conveners of the gathering their agenda was the Act, particularly Section 8 from sub-section 1 to 18. “We believe Parliament passes the legislation and ours is to assist that the police implement it to the tee,” he said. However, the CEO thanked the National Commissioner William Tsitsibala Dlamini whom he said when they consulted the REPS as per Section 1 of the Act, they assigned them police officers to come to engage the convenors in the consultative meeting.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: