Local Community Committees elected
MBABANE – After a strong resistance from residents, the Local Community Committees (LCC) were yesterday accepted.
The /CCs were elected under :ard 2ne, which includes Man]ana, Mahwalala =one , , and .
$t Nkwalini =one , the elections were a non-starter as residents refused to vote, citing that they had not been educated on same.
Since , residents in the various wards have been refusing to conduct /CC elections and felt strongly that the /CC policy was being imposed on them, following the council¶s failure to educate them.
They also said another reason for reMecting the /CCs was that they were not in line with the country¶s Constitution.
)urthermore, the residents stated that there were unresolved issues regarding the /CCs, which needed to be addressed before moving forward. These included the council taking over responsibilities of chiefs and district commissioners, among other issues.
Change
$sked why the change of heart, some residents of Mahhwala =one
stated that they had no alternative. The residents said if they absconded, the committees would have still been elected anyway, hence they wanted to have an input.
They said they wanted to elect people of their choice, who would tackle the issues they were currently facing.
:hen Tuestioned why they strongly resisted the /CC in the past years, the residents stated that wrong information regarding the /CC policy was given by former ]one leaders, who portrayed the structure as a monster.
³/CC has no issues, but it is a structure to facilitate the ease of governing.” =one Chairperson %heki =wane said they had accepted the /CC because they did not want a case where decisions would be made on their behalf. =wane said they wanted to be part of the development brought by the council. ³:e do not want council to impose development on us, but they should understand what we want and what we can afford.”
The chairperson said they had no other land, hence they wanted to work in harmony with the council and follow clear guidelines on roles and responsibilities.
$fter realising the gap between the two parties council and residents , =wane said they reTuested for a communication channel from council and they were given the /CC.
System
+e stated that the /CCs weres elected using the old system and were substituting emabandla who were working in the past with council.
=wane said the /CC was put in place by 3arliament and was not constitutional. +e said they had suggested that the /CC would start from the people to the council and finally the Member of 3arliament M3 .
The chairperson said when the minister of +ousing and 8rban 'evelopment introduced the /CC, the M3 should also be on board. +e said they had made an appeal to council to return to the community to formulate drafts on how the committee would work.
=wane said the resistance in the past was brought about by the fact that some officers, whom they had elected, were no longer involving them in certain decisions, including in the implementation of maMor proMects. +e said /CC was a tripartite involving the councillor, municipality and residents. $ccording to =wane, they all needed to work together in agreement. 5ight now, he said there was a tendency of the council doing as they pleased, without their input. +e said there was a point in time, when a playground was established near the cemetery and it had not been utilised. The chairperson added that it was the same case with the cemetery, as they were not consulted by council, which created a cemetery on prime land.