Time to test multiparty democracy

Madam,

In Eswatini the people shall remain i nf a nt s i n per pet ui t y a nd i ncapable of taking their destiny into their own hands. There is a catalogue of examples and evidence to support this school of thought, in fact reality. Indeed in recent years government has carved a niche f or i t self f or doing t he i l l ogical and most often that which is contrary not just to conventional wisdom but to the dreams and aspirations of the nation. This applies in both actions and policy positions.

A case in point is government’s somewhat lackadaisical disposition towards the devastating poverty of a majority of emaSwati while firmly fixated with projects that create, to the outside world, the illusion of a wealthy and thriving nation ready for a quantum leap into the elite group of First World nations.

What sane government can invest in ventures that have failed before taking off? One can catalogue an infinite list of examples of government’s apparent disengagement from the people on the

Madam,

The challenges faced by the public healthcare sector are multi- faceted; drugs shortages, inadequate personnel, weak institutional framework, inherent weaknesses in recruitment of medical personnel, poor administration and management of health and medical institutions extending to the management of patients.

Part of the problem compromising public health delivery service, which is known even to the village idiot, is delayed or late payment of suppliers ostensibly because government’s priorities, indeed resources, are focused elsewhere and away from the people. In the event the health sector, like education and agriculture, is periodically under budgeted, t hus constituting a major and primary threat to the developmental endeavours of the Kingdom of Eswatini.

I n s hort , hi gh mortalit y owing t o an inadequate public health delivery system has become an obstacle to the country’s trajectory out of poverty, a fact that is currency to everyone else but the leadership.

It is also known that all government institutions are weak on issues of control and accountability and the same applies to public health facilities. Then there is the general management and

t o t hi s column should be neatly handwritten or t yped and should have t he name and address of t he author. We prefer t hem short, t o t he point and t o address t opi cal i ssues. Lett er s published do not r ef l ect t he vi ews of t he edit or, management or st af f , but st r i ct l y r eaders. The edit or r eserves t he r i ght t o cut, correct and i mprove t he qualit y of l et t er s, wit h r egard t o grammar and presentati on, wit hi n r easonable l i mits. The edit or may also r emove r emarks considered l egally off ensive or i n bad t aste and t he names of t he people and establishments concerned. He may also give factual advice when considered justified. foot of the social and economic ladder to pursue agendas of the elite. One such example is government’s involvement in chasing away foreign direct investments with extr a- l egal demands on investors to surrender substantial and unreasonable s hareholding without matching capital outlays. But this is an issue for another day.

UNIONISM

Government’s hatred of and contempt for trade unionism, which is equal only to its hatred for multiparty democracy, has poisoned it such that it is not beyond setting up the country in flames while trying to exorcise it of what it considers a demon.

Yet paradoxically, government has l argely s t r i ved on policies and programmes derived from the famous 27 demands. Grants for the elderly, free primary education, the national constitution, etc, are but products and by- products of the 27 demands among a long list that government sought to domesticate as its own. Of course we know better. administration of public health facilities that is crying out for professionals. The t rend i n government being t hat upward mobility for medical professionals is translated by their elevation to management and administrative positions for which they have no training and experience whatsoever.

The obvious outcomes of such deployments, if not informed by qualifications in the management of public h e a l t h s y s t e ms, a r e t h e i n e v i t a b l e

So far there is no discernible resolve from government or the leadership to get this country out of the quagmire it is in and we have to wonder why if this is not part of an agenda to fix people.

Talk of cutting your face to spite your nose! Unavoidably, this speaks to the s kewed e xerci s e of poli t i c a l power whose intended or unintended consequence has been the curving out of a structured class society of the haves and have- nots. While thousands of compatriots remain without jobs, life for these elites has never been better.

If government had any interest in getting this country back on track, it would have achieved this by the same token that it was able to successfully railroad certain laws it wanted in place and operational when circumstances suited it.

The nation should hold government responsible for depriving jobs to compatriots who were in gainful employment in various industries by acting against the national imperative of job creation and protection.

Babe Dlamini

collapse of and dysfunctional public health institutions.

Whil e t h e l e a d e r s h i p i s g i v e n t o b o a s t i n g o f a p e a c e f u l n a t i o n a n d tranquil environment at every available opportunity, the fact is this country is politically unstable and unpredictable.

Instead of i nvesti ng massively i n e d u c a t i o n , h e a l t h a n d a g r i c u l t u r e , government continues t o pour vast amounts of resources on the military yet the country is not facing any external threats.

That on itself contradicts the narrative of this being a peaceful nation. And yes, t he l eadership can fool us but the same cannot be said about the rest of the world.

We are still stuck with a dysfunctional political system when the nation had, in one of the numerous royal vusela exercises, expressed a desire to test multiparty democracy at some stage. Additionally, it is common currency that projects and interventions that directly benefit the people are often stopped and resources redirected t o projects with no economic value save to project a superficial picture of a country primed t o l aunch i nto t he realm of First World nations.

Given t he many challenges facing t h e c o u n t r y c o u p l e d t o b a d g o v - ernance, t he t i me t o t est multiparty democracy is long overdue.

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