LEGISLATORS FAILING TO DEFEND TINKHUNDLA SYSTEM – XABA

EZULWINI – Clerk to Parliament Benedict Xaba has accused parliamentarians of failing to defend the Tinkhundla System of Government.

Xaba made the accusation yesterday during the opening of the induction conference for the 12th Parliament, that was held at the Happy Valley Hotel in Ezulwini. He said as part of ensuring that Parliament performed at its level best, they engaged a consultant to assist in identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of the institution. He said when conducting the SWOT analysis, they also consulted more than 33 stakeholders; external and internal, regional and international, including the Pan African Parliament (PAP) and ambassadors.

Weaknesses

The clerk stated that the analysis pointed out 37 weaknesses of the institution. “Top of the list of weaknesses is that our parliamentarians fail to defend the Tinkhundla System. We have seen it in the past internationally and locally in serious meeting, where misinformation was spread about the country,” he said. Xaba said what was surprising was to learn that some parliamentarians, who were part of those meetings where wrong information about the country was shared, none of them bothered to stand up and defend the kingdom. “This is a failure of politicians to defend the system and hopeful by the end of the workshop, parliamentarians will be ready to defend the unique system,” he said. Another weakness, the clerk said, was the lack of understanding of the politician’s mandate. He said in some instances, parliamentarians did not deliver on their mandate because of lack of understanding by the community. He mentioned that even yesterday during the workshop, some of the MPs were greeted by community members who had come to report about activities that would take place in their constituencies. “There is a need for the nation to be educated about the role of politicians in the country,” he said.

The statement was accompanied by a round of applause from the parliamentarians. Under strengths, Xaba said there was a lot of emphasis on the uniqueness of monarchical democracy.
“This is a strength because the system cannot be found elsewhere in the world but only in Eswatini. If it could be packaged and delivered accordingly, this would be the best model of government and people will travel all over the world to consult and get to know how the system works,” he said. Further, Xaba stated that another strength that was noted was the presence of the Monarch during the opening of every parliamentary session. He said the fact that Parliament opening was one of the official assignments of His Majesty King Mswati III was a strength, as it showed the direction the country was taking.

The use of committee systems in Parliament was another strength, because it made Parliament service easier, according to Xaba. “For example, the 11th Parliament scored 98 per cent when it comes to Bill. They enacted most of the Bills that were tabled, into law. The 12th  Parliament will not be starting new Bills but will be implementing and passing regulations,” he said. The individual merit of the elections was also among the strengths as Parliament has records of each MP’s origin. Xaba also cited the need for Parliament to continue affiliating to regional and international bodies. “In these international meetings, we should have side meetings where we will talk about the Tinkhundla System, so that people understand it,” he said.

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