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TEMPERS FLARE AS SENATORS IRKED BY MPS’ STATEMENT

11/07/2023 09:04:00 Nonduduzo Kunene

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LOBAMBA – What was supposed to be a short and jolly Senate sitting almost spiralled out of control as senators felt insulted by Members of Parliament (MPs).

The senators’ emotions were provoked by a communiqué from the House of Assembly on an amendment they made to the Administration of the Community Development Special Fund Regulations, 2023. Over a month ago, senators, when debating the regulations, suggested that the process of applications should go via chiefs and regional administrators (RAs). According to the Senate amendments, the decision to include the chiefs and RAs was because the fund was aimed at developing communities, which, in the context of Eswatini, are under the administration of chiefs. Therefore, senators were of the view that there could never be development in these areas, when the people who were entrusted with such were sidelined.

Directive

The communiqué that was read to the senators through a directive of the Deputy Speaker, Madala Mhlanga and signed by the Clerk-At-Table in the House of Assembly, Mpendulo Ngcamphalala, stated that the MPs were of the view that the amendments made by Senate were unworkable for several reasons. Firstly, the MPs stated that they were of the view that there was a high number of applications received and approved for funding in the over 385 chiefdoms, and it was unattainable for the office of the RA and the MP to fully comply with the requirements of the proposed amendment. “Multiple community projects are approved at the same time; it would not be feasible to have the regional administrator, Member of Parliament and chief, all participating in the launch or handover of every approved project. The introduction of this committee does not introduce any additional internal control measures or rather add value to the process, but only increases unnecessary bureaucracy in the community project application process, making it impossible to achieve efficiency and projects delivery,” stated the communication.

The communication further stated that the Project Launch Committee could not operate without being gazetted and, thereby, attracting sitting allowances for all members. The MPs said Parliament was not empowered to create entities that would increase the national budget. “This requirement, coupled with the number of meetings which will be required from this committee, will increase the financial burden on government resources,” stated the communication. In the government’s assignment of responsibilities, the House of Assembly mentioned that the Micro-Projects Unit was allocated to the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, therefore, the need to fiddle with that arrangement was without basis and unsound. The MPs went on to state that they failed to find strong motivation for a separate structure of chiefs and MPs.

The communication stated that all the offices (RA, chief and MP) did have a role to play in the application process, something that mitigated against the creation of a duplicate structure. The MPs added that placing the application forms for funding at imiphakatsi would require government to hire skilled personnel in the over 385 chiefdoms. “The government officials will educate the different communities in the various imiphakatsi on the mechanics of the application form and its interpretation. This is not only unattainable but will again increase the financial burden on government resources,” read the communication. The MPs added that chiefdoms, by their nature, were not an extension of government structures, hence nothing compelled them to serve as administrative points of government.

They argued that placing the application forms for funding at imiphakatsi would expose development initiatives to chieftaincy disputes. Throughout the reading of the communication, the senators couldn’t stay calm as they stated that the communication from the House of Assembly undermined them. The senators said they felt that the MPs’ communication was ill-informed and failed to understand the Constitution of the country, more especially the part that stated that imiphakatsi were not an extension of government. At first, Senators Chief Prince Mshengu and Mkhululi Dlamini tried to explain the reason behind the suggestion to include chiefs and RAs in the regulations. Senator Chief Prince Mshengu wondered how government was supposed to add more employees, given the fact that the Rural Development Fund (RDF) was operating well under the same structures they suggested.

Senator Mkhululi, who was seconder to the; ‘Motion to adopt the regulation’ said the House of Assembly communiqué was baseless and lacked substance as communities in the country were under the authority of chiefs. Senator Chief Magudvululela could not even stand still, as he kept on comparing the communication in his hand with that of Senator Chief Mphatfwa, just to confirm if they all had the same wording. The senator wanted to understand the intention behind the ‘name-calling and derogative’ language that was used in the communication. The senator tried to give a brief process that is usually followed in rural communities when certain development projects were underway. He said that process included the royal kraal as well as RAs. “I fail to understand the notion that chiefdoms are not an extension of government because whatever happens in the country starts at the level of imiphakatsi,” he said.

Another senator who was irked by the communiqué was Chief Ngalonkhulu Mabuza. The senator’s first words were ‘siyedzeleleka lana’. He also told the senators that after rereading the communication, he felt that the senators were labelled tiyingayinga (senseless). “I do not know the procedure very well, perhaps the Senate president will enlighten me, before the communication reaches Senate, and do you read them? I am asking because I strongly believe that after receiving the communication, you should have read it and given a voice of reason to the person who sent this to you,” he said. He said this while holding it and further urged the Senate President, Lindiwe Dlamini, to talk to the Speaker because it definitely caused division among the MPs and senators. Meanwhile the Senate president told the senators that she received the letter last Friday. She said, she was also disturbed by the content of the letter.