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ARREST, RECALL MPS WHO DEFY OATH - SOME NKHANINI RESIDENTS

19/02/2023 07:50:00 Mhlonishwa Motsa

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NKHANINI – Residents of Nkhanini have called for the arrest or recall of Members of Parliament (MPs) who fail to uphold their oath of office and promises to the people.

The residents were making submissions to the Elections and Boundaries Commission(EBC) during a voter and civic education exercise at the area’s umphakatsi. Nkhanini Umphakatsi is one the five royal kraals under Lobamba inkhundla in the Hhohho region. Voter education means providing citizens of a democratic state with basic information about participating in elections. Voter education is provided by the state through the EBC therefore it is a politically non-partisan exercise.

Though the attendance was not a reflection of a majority of residents in the area, the civic and voter education exercise continued and members of the community were taught on how to make their vote count. About 60 residents attended the voter and civic education at the community hall near the umphakatsi. Most of the community members raised concerns on the lack of power to recall a failing MP.

The residents raised concerns to the EBC officers that the people elected into parliament sometimes forget the promises they made to their communities and therefore it was important for the people to be able to recall those that were failing. They further raised concerns that some of the MPs defied their oath of office when they got to parliament. Mandla Mkhonta said the MPs who fail to honour their oath as MPs and their promises should be arrested or the power to recall them be given to the people. He said MPs were elected by the people and should therefore be accountable to the people.

He said those who took the oath were actually taking an oath to the people and failure to deliver according to the oath should be deemed a prosecutable offence. MPs do not honour their pledge or promises to the people. Once they take the oath in parliament, they forget their promises to us. They should even be arrested for failure to adhere to the oath they take. The root cause of this is the fact that we do not have the power to recall them. It is time such power is given to the people because without such, the election process becomes useless.

Meetings

“Even here, we know that meetings have not been called for a long time and that is probably the reason behind such small numbers in attendance today,” he said. The oath according to Section 128 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland (Eswatini) binds the MPs to pay allegiance to His Majesty King Mswati III, his heirs and successors.
“Every member of Parliament shall, before taking the seat as such member, take and subscribe before the chamber of which that member is a member the oath of allegiance that is set out in the Second Schedule or such other oath as may be prescribed,” reads Section 128 of the Constitution.

Mkhonta further questioned the EBC and government for hiring teachers and members of the security forces as polling officers ahead of the unemployed youth. Our sister publication, Eswatini News, reported that the EBC was projecting about 7 000 temporal jobs during the elections this year. According to the commission, the job opportunities were open to everyone who was going to apply and qualify.

The residents challenged the fact that such opportunities were taken by those who were still employed by government, yet it was an opportunity for the unemployed youth to make an income. “It does not make sense that during the election year, government opens job opportunities for those that are already employed and under her payroll. This is clear example of a fattening ranch and such should be addressed with immediate effect by the commission.

The numbers of unemployed young people, some who have tertiary certificates but were unemployable due to lack of experience is growing and this could be their opportunity to gain that experience. It becomes a problem if EBC as a government entity overlooks them,” he said. Sikhumbuzo Fakudze stated that some of the MPs did not understand their role when they got to parliament and it was evident in their behaviour.

Mentioned

He mentioned that it was important for an MP to be in touch with the people so that any submissions they made in parliament was aligned to the will of the people. He made an example of a former MP who used to meet with the residents and discuss his submissions in parliament. Some of the residents questioned the candidate vetting process and said it was worrying to see an committed MP being jailed for a crime he did before he became a legislator.

“I want to propose that the EBC should consider looking at the arrest as compared to the guilty verdict because it is embarrassing when an MP gets jailed for something he did before becoming an MP. These show that the vetting exercise was lacking and needed to be improved. Maybe we should start considering the arrest based on the prospects of a conviction,” said a female resident who identified herself as LaDvuba.

The resident said she was not making any specific reference to any MP but was pondering over the issue on her way to the civic education. Worth mentioning is that the constituency’s MP Allen Stewart was last week sentenced to three years no fine for attempted murder. This was after High Court Judge Doris Tshabalala convicted him of the charge on January 31, 2023 and subsequently sentenced him on Friday February 10, 2023.

When the judge delivered the judgment, Allen was in the company of his wife, who also saw him off in the rain as police officers took him, to the Correctional centre. Allen committed the offence of attempted murder on October 31, 2010 at Moyeni, Siteki, in the Lubombo Region, during the funeral of his brother, John Stewart. He shot Sibusiso Matsenjwa in the arm shortly after John had been buried. The attendees were having refreshments at the Stewart homestead when the shooting happened. At the time of his death, John was in a love relationship with Sibusiso’s sister, Gugu. The couple lived together for a number of years and they had children.

Conviction

His conviction meant the residents of Nkhanini will be without an MP in the fifth session of the 11th Parliament.
The royal kraal was also challenged to start calling meetings and ensuring that there were consistent updates given to the community members especially on issues of the elections. EBC Officer Khetsiwe Vilakati responded to the questions raised by the residents and said the EBC was committed to improving the election process and ensuring that it remained free and fair. She said they were going to engage the commission on some of the issues raised by the residents.

“The intention of the commission is to build an election brand that is free and fair. Issues such as the hiring of teachers and other civil servants as polling officers by the EBC will be referred to the commission for deliberation.
‘‘We appreciate the questions and the comments made but we also want to state that some issues such as the power to recall remain outside our bounds because there is currently no legislation authorising it.

“However, we will take it further and hope the laws will be amended but for now, it is thathile thathile (once choice to the end),” she said. Vilakati said the commission was not in a position to change the vetting rules but the matter would be tabled for discussions. She said a person was deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. --Officers from EBC took the residents through the official stages of the election process and the importance of voting. The residents were taught on why it was important for every voter to be registered and how to register.