Rebuilding Eswatini

REBUILDING Eswatini via a negotiated settlement is not going to be easy because influential people long abandoned their authority to do the right thing in return for money.

There was a time in the minds of emaSwati when the majority would look up to anyone, appointed by the King into any position of authority, with great honour, respect and reverence. Most people thought the King must have identified something special with these men and women.

I for one thought these men and women were people of unmatched courage and wisdom and would go to great lengths to stick to the truth all the time even if it meant being unpopular with the King. His Majesty King Mswati III (HMK) just appointed clowns into position of authority who had no understanding of the seriousness of the task at hand. All of them turned into beggars with caps on hands. They were no longer interested in doing that which was honourable but in aiding the looting of public funds in the name of the King.

We were abandoned by the people we thought would be on the side of natural justice. This abnormal behaviour became entrenched into Swati culture and custom. The politically uninformed emaSwati began to embrace this unknown behaviour of being indifferent to any new information even if it is meant to benefit them or wake them up from their deep slumber.

WRECKAGE

We are now choosing a new path to rebuild a new Eswatini. We cannot rebuild it from the wreckage of the tinkhundla set up. Democracy is a western ideology which is often rejected by Africans because of their culture. Africans who are not in position of authority find it easy to embrace democracy but once they are in authority they have so many difficulties with democracy.

Many people think HMK has failed

Eswatini because the powers at his disposal have not been used for the common good. But when he ascended to the throne the powers were already there. With poor advice and an indifferent majority would he have acted differently? Some investors have taken advantage of the political set up in Eswatini to make huge returns from their investments because they quickly saw the gaps and used them to their advantage. It is not only the foreign investors that have taken advantage of the political set up but local ones too.

Whether you are in power or not, someone will always find a way of turning you into a tool that he can use to his advantage to amass wealth without you being aware that you are being used. Inyatsi Construction director is here to make money so that he gets maximum returns for his investments. He is not here to help this country address the social ills we are facing.

Last week I mentioned that this week we shall look at topics that will be covered in the national dialogue