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LOBAMBA – Senators have condemned the disruption of the civic voter education exercise.

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is currently conducting civic voter education across communities in the country, in preparation for the upcoming elections that are scheduled for September this year.

A fortnight ago, the civic voter education was disrupted at Hosea by people who were wearing T-shirts of some political parties, where one of the disrupters was shot.

The senators asked Minister David Ngcamphalala what he was doing to ensure that communities were welcoming the officers who were conducting a national duty of paramount importance. The minister stated that inasmuch as he was aware that the elections were not part of his scope, he felt he had a mandate to ensure that communities were in the right state of mind.

Senator Isaac Magagula asked what if the disruptions continued to other communities, and whether the ministry and EBC had means of curbing future disturbances, aimed at disrupting the exercise. He went on to ask if the disruptions would not infringe some residents’ right to vote in the upcoming elections.

Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini also decried the manner at which emaSwati were influenced by foreign concepts. She said some countries were emulating the Monarchical Democracy, while some emaSwati were not appreciating it.

“Some emaSwati do not appreciate the system,” she said.

Meanwhile, Minister Ngcamphalala said he was also concerned by the disruptions of the civic voters education. He said there had been engagements with the EBC, where they looked at means to resolve the issue.