Which ministry is responsible for E30m dialogue budget? - MPs
LOBAMBA – Some Members of Parliament (MPs) have raised concerns over government’s transparency regarding the E30 million budgeted for the national dialogue.
The concerns were raised during the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development Portfolio Committee budget debate, in Parliament yesterday.
Before the MPs made their submissions, Minister David Ngcamphalala told the MPs, in his preamble, that in the past year, the ministry was challenged by the burning of 16 tinkhundla centres during the unrest, hence it (ministry) was in a tight corner to complete rebuilding these gutted structures. He added that through the Rural Development Fund (RDF), the ministry was able to create 208 jobs and 33 projects, of which 11 of them were income-generating projects.
Ngcamphalala stated that his ministry needed E422 323 342 for the 2023/2024 financial year. “A total of E400 300 342 is for recurrent expenditure, while we need E19 million for capital projects,” he said while motivating the MPs to approve the budget. In response, the MPs had mixed reactions about the performance of the ministry. One of the common submissions by the MPs was the much anticipated national dialogue.
Ndzingeni Constituency MP Lutfo Dlamini applauded the preamble by the minister, but said he felt it missed one of the important items. He recalled the budget speech that was presented by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, a fortnight ago.
Dlamini said Rijkenberg announced that E30 million was budgeted for the national dialogue. “I have moved across ministries during their debates but none of them had indicated that the national dialogue funds were under them,” he said.
He wanted to know which of the government ministries was tasked with spearheading the national dialogue. The MP said the Cabinet budgeted E30 million for the national dialogue and he had high hopes that the E30 million would be under the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development.
He also recommended that the E30 million should be managed by the ministry, so that the dialogue could start as soon as possible, in order to avoid the repercussions that would come with delaying it. “We cannot live like this, bring the money so that we can start the dialogue in our constituencies,” he said.
Concerns
Dlamini said through the dialogue, people would be able to speak about what they wanted and their future. He said most of the concerns that were raised by the people were the Ministry of Tinkhundla’s portfolio. He said the dialogue needed to start at community and constituency levels and extend to higher authorities. Dlamini said there was no need to keep on running or working under tables in matters that related to the dialogue.
The MP said he was hopeful that they would be tasked with starting the conversations. He went on to state that he was tired of the transparency issues regarding the dialogue. He said as things stood, no one was willing to talk or boldly state who was tasked with overseeing the dialogue.
“Let’s open the hand and deal with this issue. Why does it look like dialoguing among ourselves is bad omen. We come a long way during King Sobhuza’s days where he encouraged dialogue. He wondered why emaSwati were scared of the dialogue,” he said.
The MP said he was hopeful that Ngcamphalala would give clear answers because all the other ministries, including the Cabinet itself, could not state clearly who was given the task to head the dialogue.
He emphasised that politicians should not be scared to talk about the dialogue. The MP said if they were scared of talking about politics, they should leave politics and start churches or start small businesses.
Dlamini made the submission after Siphofaneni Constituency MP Nomalungelo Simelane had also spoken about speeding up the dialogue. She asked what the ministry was doing in speed up the national dialogue.
The MP said she felt the ministry of Tinkhundla was dragging its feet on the national dialogue, yet it was the one that embraced a large portion of the country’s population. “The ministry has direct contact with community leaders and ordinary members in several communities in the country and has a clear path or channels it can use to gather people and start the dialogue,” she said.
Simelane said the ministry was in a better position of finding out what was troubling the people at community and regional level.
She said in the manner at which the ministry was distancing itself from the national dialogue, passing its budget would be giving it powers to continue to infringe on people’s rights.
She explained that the reason she came to that conclusion was because the ministry had deserted some of its crucial duties, which include administration and development of communities. She said the dialogue was central to the mandate of the ministry. “It is a crime to be given a task and not deliver,” she said.
Loggerheads
Simelane said the ministry was aware that people were at loggerheads with their communities due to the political tension. The MP highlighted that relatives were no longer talking to each other because they viewed each other as enemies, more especially those who worked for the security forces, as they were believed to be behind the deaths of June 29, 2021.
Simelane said if the ministry was engaging people honestly, it would have piled pressure on government to speed up the national dialogue. She pleaded with government to prioritise lives instead of property. She noted the minister’s speech where he stated that they were working around the clock to fix all the structures that were burnt and destroyed during the unrest. Inasmuch as she appreciated the reconstruction of the structures, she said the dialogue was going to save lives that were being lost due to the unstable political landscape.
“Eswatini was known to be a peaceful nation but we have now turned against each other and no one can say he or she sleeps peacefully at night,” she said.
Simelane said there were higher chances that emaSwati would be worse off, because nobody was interested in hearing them out. The minister will present his written responses tomorrow. He however, answered some of the questions that were raised by the MPs.
Ngcamphalala said the dialogue planning was in senior quarters and was to be delegated to whosoever would be tasked over time.
The minister wondered if people were ready to accept different views during the dialogue that the MPs were calling for so much. He recalled that last year he visited KaMkhweli, a community under Siphofaneni Constituency where the MP hails from.
The minister said he engaged with a number of people on the issues that were affecting the country. A day after he engaged with the people in the community, his home was burnt. “I do not have a home today. I do not know if people are ready to accept different views during the dialogue,” he said.
The minister said after years of working, his home was reduced to ashes. He said he felt so bad.