WeekendAnalysis

while Dlamini (Barnes) and Mary are expected to share with the Swaziland Multi-stakeholder Forum (MSF). Information at the disposal of the MSF will surely reach the Political Parties Assembly (PPA).

Zwelethu, a journalist and union secretary has a vast stakeholder base alongside yours truly, who is now sharing with his audience.

Rev. Shabalala has a huge stakeholder base, which include churches that command a large following in the country. These include but not limited to the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican, Lutheran, and Methodist.

He is also the chairman of the Swaziland Concerned Church Leaders. The US State Department which sponsored the programme helps to shape a freer, more secure and more prosperous world through formulating, representing and implementing the president’s foreign policy.

The secretary of state is the president’s principal advisor on foreign policy and is chiefly responsible for the USA representation abroad.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. DEDICATED

On the other hand, the Meridian International Centre, the programme’s partner, is a private, non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting international understanding through the exchange of people, ideas and the arts. The IVLP team within the Meridian en Centre for Global Leadership operates under a grant from the US State Department to arrange professional programmes and travel in the United States, for visitors who participate in the Department’s IVLP.

Topics covered

On August 25, 2022, Akram R Elias presented an overview of the US system of Government, its decentralised nature and the decision-making process that flows from the system. Elias has more than 35 years of professional experience in the field of international relations, and is the co-founder and president of Capital Communications Group. We couldn’t be in a country and not learn about it. The Constitution of the United States (US) contains a preamble and seven articles that describe the way the government is structured and how it operates.

I wish Eswatini could adopt the five cornerstones of the USA, which are –

Freedom of speech.

Freedom of the press.

Freedom of religion.

Freedom of assembly.

Freedom to petition government. The above mentioned rights are the pride of the USA. They define who the Americans are. All the 50 States cannot pass laws that interfere with these rights.

I have been to the White House twice – 2008 and 2022. People are free to march peacefully allowed to the White House at any given time to present their grievances. Picketing outside the White House is now a US tradition. We also had a session on building relationships and promoting civic participation across the American political spectrum. The Bipartisan Policy Centre was given the task to take us through in this regard.

Other topics covered included –Efforts by the Faith Community Advisory Council to advise the county (not country) on the needs and concerns of local faith communities; discussion on the Carter School’s work on promoting intercultural and interreligious dialogue and understanding. The Carter School is housed at the George Mason University.

Perspectives on the region and experience as United States (US) Ambassador to Eswatini.

Makila James from Africa Centre under the United States Institute of Peace made a moving presentation on this subject.

Approaches to peace building, dialogue and reconciliation, as well as the organisation’s programmes in East Africa that work to end conflict, and promote healthy and justice society. The organisation that made the presentation here was the Global Affairs and Partnerships (Search for Common Ground). Makila James also touched on this topic as well.

Perspectives from the US Congress on the upcoming dialogue in Eswatini, as well as Congress’s use of reconciling language in their legislation to bridge partisan divides. Discussion on the role women play in peace in peace building and reconciliation (courtesy of Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security).

Engagement with Professor Ronald Slye, the Director of International and Comparative Law programmes at Seattle University School of Law. He provided case studies of peace building and reconciliation efforts based on his experience as a commissioner with the Kenyan Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission and as a legal advisor to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. International Republican Institutes civic engagement and inter-cultural dialogue programmes implemented in East Africa.

Meeting with Seattle Human Rights Commission to discuss its role to protect the human rights of citizens, as well as the methodology of the city’s Race and Social Justice Initiative and its implementation strategy. Traditionalism – Meeting the Tutalip tribal representatives to discuss tribal sovereignty, and its effect in the process of healing and reconciliation. The Tutalip trible is a federally recognised Indian tribe located on the Tutalip Reservation in the mid-Puget Sound area.

DISCUSSED

It has its own laws and courts alongside with chiefs. The tribal representatives discussed the impact that sovereignty has in natural resource and heritage site conversation, cultural and language preservation, and local economic development. What is dialogue? Let me define it the way I understood it.

Before people dialogue, they must first define what they seek to do in order to understand its concepts, its principles, etc.

A dialogue cannot be held in the same manner in which negotiations on salary increment are conducted or how a judge or speaker presides over a case or session in court or Parliament. It is neither a mere meeting nor conference. It is not a hearing or a case in which a certain party will act like a judge and the other will act as an accused. A dialogue is when all parties involved in the disagreement or conflict agree to ‘share’ (underline sharing) of experiences, knowledge, skills, dreams, achievements and aspirations in order to find a lasting solution. a dialogue is not a platform to impose ideas and ideologies on either faction. It is not a platform where one party is at liberty to threaten the other one with violence in case of a stalemate.

However, a dialogue provides an opportunity for parties to find each other and to appreciate what they have achieved, underachieved and acquired in terms of knowledge for the good of the country. It is where both parties are expected to view the reforms as a vehicle for political, social and economic growth. Parties must see the need for the dialogue.

A dialogue is held out of love, happiness and affection. It is not a battleground, but an opportunity to share knowledge and enlighten each other on contemporary ideas on politics, religion or any other subject. Let me briefly put it in our context, this platform called a dialogue provides an opportunity for the reformists to explain to the conservatives why it is significant and advantageous for emaSwati to elect their own government which shall be accountable to them. Make the sitting leader appreciates that it is to his advantage to be above politics. In this case, I am referring to the appointing authority – the King.

Parties should come out of the conference room looking forward to the implementation of the recommendations. When dialoguers exhibit a high degree of commitment to the process, the recommendations shall have a national buy-in. On this score, it is very important that dialogue passes through preparatory phase.

The way I understood it and the way I now understand it is that an unprepared dialogue is a recipe for disaster. Think of the dialogue with the capital letter ‘D’ vis-à-vis the dialogue with a small letter ‘d’. I was taught that the dialogue with small letter ‘d’ focuses on the items on the agenda that are easy to get – the tasks that are easily accomplishable while on the other hand, the dialogue with the capital letter ‘D’ focuses on the things that can take a long time or rather difficult to get.

Studies have shown that dialogues with the small letter ‘d’ are successful if they are considered as a starting point. After all, they entail the things that could be easy to get. A standoff or deadlock that could spiral out of control is likely to unfold where parties start the process with the capital letter ‘D.’ In our context, it may not be a mammoth task to identify issues that can fall under ‘d’ and ‘D’. Credibility It can take me the whole year trying to unpack the subject. It is, however, imperative that I point to the fact that, for a dialogue to succeed, we were taught that it needs to be credible. History has shown that discredited dialogues are a recipe for civil war and coups.

Not only is the dialogue that must be credible, but the environment and the platform, together with the delegates and the convener should be credible enough to gain public trust. I will end here today and let’s meet next week.