5 REASONS WHY CHIEF MVIMBI GOT IT WRONG - JAN

MBABANE – Jan Sithole, SWADEPA President, has described his verbal attack by Chief Mvibi as a positive sign.
During the introduction of parliamentarians to His Majesty King Mswati III last week at the Lozitha Royal Palace, Chief Mvimbi said Sithole was wrong to declare his political status in the presence of royalty.

The chief assured the King that members of any political formation in Parliament would be monitored.
Responding to the chief’s statement, Sithole said: “I’m not taking offence on views and opinions that others have, but this creates a fertile debate for all of us.
We all have views we need to engage on and a common task to take this country forward.”
In the interest of those debates and dialogues, Sithole said there would be different views.

“It should not be viewed as enmity or something that is unexpected in any democratic environment.
“In fact, in Parliament what is important is to focus positively. How are we going to get there? There will be talking and there will be disagreements,” he pointed out.
That they would have different views and opinions, Sithole said it showed that they were going to have a healthy debate in the House.

Sithole categorically stated that he would not be resigning from SWADEPA. This was after he had been asked if he would heed the chief’s warning. 
“I believe my views and visions are not in contrast with leading the country to the First World. My views and mandate from the people to improve their welfare is not different from the intentions of the First World.

“For me there is no contradiction in the agenda but there will be different opinions on how to get there,” he opined.
Sithole said the King in his remarks when welcoming the parliame-ntarians talked about the unity of purpose going forward because of the common vision, which should be respected.
He emphasised that the beauty of diversity in Parliament was the debate and the product of the debate.
“As a democrat, I believe in freedom of speech expression, opinion, assembly and association as they are also enshrined in the Constitution of the country.
“Alongside these rights, I subscribe to the principles of democracy which among others include transparency and accountability which ironically His Majesty alluded to in some parts if his address,” Sithole said.

He said it was good that Chief Mvimbi expressed himself and his opinion, ‘but where he got it all wrong was that the assignment for all honourables was each to tell their story as to what they envision for the country and not to critique peoples stories.’
Sithole said where the chief missed it was to say the truth should not be told before the authorities and stating that it was not our culture to do so.
Sithole begged to differ with Chief Mvimbi’s statement because of the following reasons:
*   Culturally it is wrong to tell a lie to the elders let alone the authorities
*    Biblically it is a sin to lie irrespective of age group.
*    Morally it is wrong to be deceitful
*    It is hypocritical to lie worse still if from the lie told decisions are to be taken.
*   Deceiving national decision makers is unfair both to the authorities who eventually have to take decisions and to the nation which become victims  of I’ll informed decisions.

He mentioned that this country could only achieve the First World status if decision makers were told the truth unselectively.
“My bible tells me that the truth shall set us free. I hold no grudge to be blamed for telling the truth like it is, and I also pray that all who do have access to the authorities should not be economic with the truth, because decision makers make decisions based on the quality an truthfulness of  information they receive.

 “My prayer is that there is need for tolerance and appreciation of dissenting views, and that all should be done with a view of making the lives of the people of our country better and never to forget to elevate the country to first world status in only eight years,” he said.

What’s wrong with telling the truth? - SWADEPA

MBABANE – The Swaziland Democratic Party (SWADEPA) has hit back at Chief Mvimbi for condemning their President Jan Sithole for speaking about his political affiliation.

The party wondered what was wrong with telling the truth.
SWADEPA Secretary General Archie Sayed said Sithole unlike many people who were given an opportunity to speak or appear in front of His Majesty, decided to tell nothing but the whole truth about his affiliation to, and association with, SWADEPA.

“He did this largely because he believes it is wrong and disrespectful to withhold information from His Majesty. Secondly, he did it because SWADEPA’s agenda is not inconsistent with the vision of His Majesty.
“As SWADEPA we believe it would be contemptuous if not completely mischievous to hide facts especially from the King about whom Sithole associates with because our political party has nothing to hide,” he said

He mentioned that their workshops and meetings were always conducted in the public domain because their intentions about the development of this country were good and sincere.
Sayed said they persistently take care to be guided by the provisions of the Constitution which guaranteed certain freedoms of association and of expression to ensure their activities were fully compliant with it.
“In other words we believe in the rule of law as we responsibly exercise our rights as provided by the constitution.
 “We therefore find it disturbing that there are still persons in this day and age who still believe that it is culturally acceptable to tell a flagrant lie or to withhold relevant facts from our revered King and Ingwenyama.

“As SWADEPA we refuse to accept this line of thinking as we believe the King deserves nothing less than the whole truth from his citizens,” Sayed said.
He said there was no other form of demonstrating absolute respect and devotion than to tell the King the unadulterated truth about everything.
Regrettably, Sayed said Chief Mvimbi seems to think otherwise and as SWADEPA they have to agree to disagree with him on that score.

“The question is who authorized him to be the judge over such issues to find himself to be the messiah to judge others who appear before the King?”Sayed wondered. He stated that His Majesty’s vision of a first world entailed transparency, commit-ment and truthfulness as a basis for national development.
Any person who still believed in veiled secrecy on matters that were already in the public domain was certain to be unhelpful in the national discourse, said Sayed.”
He mentioned that SWADEPA embraced the monarchy and demonstrates unrestrained esteem and reverence.

 In their opinion, Sayed said there could be no respect where the element of honesty was absent.
He pointed out that Sithole was therefore honest as a sign of respect.
“The King belongs to all his people and no one has a right of monopoly over this great institution,” he said.

When His Majesty asked for the MP’s opinions about the country, Sayed said Sithole dutifully did just that with honesty, respect, integrity and dignity.
“Particularly that the purpose of the invite by the King was that each Honourable member must express their vision for the country, when he goes out of his way to condemn and threaten Sithole for being honest, truthful and transparent before the leadership of the country.

“The irony is that everyone who came either from the armed forces and regiments declared and that was not an issue with Honourable Chief Mvimbi but when it was the Honourable MP from Manzini North mentioning his association he develops goose bumps,” Sayed said.

“We now see why the country is faced with inkling decisions; it is because of this belief that the truth must be hidden from the leadership. What Chief Mvimbi was not aware of was that the Constitution of the country provides and protects the freedom of expression and opinion and the King had asked the Honourables to express themselves,” Sayed said.

 

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