MBABANE- There are members of the public who still have confidence in former Prime Ministers Obed Dlamini, Sibusiso Dlamini and A.T Dlamini and feel the king should give them another chance.
This is contained in the litany of lists submitted by members of the public on, who should be the next PM. This publication threw an open invitation to members of the public to nominate candidates for both the PM’s position and Cabinet posts.
From the look of things, a majority of the people who submitted their lists feel A.T deserves another term. Sibusiso is also a hot favourite followed by Mathendele and the rest.
A surprise and abnormal nomination for the PM position is that of businessman and Mbabane Mayor Walter Bennett, who is not a Dlamini. In Swaziland only Dlaminis are eligible for appointment as PMs.
Others who have been nominated for PM position include Mabili Dlamini (former Housing Minister), Mathendele Dlamini (former Foreign Affairs Minister), Gideon Dlamini of Salile fame, Waqunga Dlamini (member of Border Restoration Commission), former AG Phesheya Dlamini and many others.
There are also interesting nominations for ministers’ positions. New kids on the block and former radiomen Rodgers Mamba (Mkhiweni Inkhundla) and Qedusizi Ndlovu (Matsanjeni Inkhundla) have also been nominated for various ministerial positions. The country’s political black sheep Marwick Khumalo (Lobamba Lomdzala) has been nominated for various Cabinet posts.
Former Deputy Minister Hlob’sile Ndlovu has also been nominated for a full blown term as a Cabinet minister, SPTC’s Corporate Affairs Manager and mother to Inkhosikati LaMahlangu Lindiwe Dlamini has also been nominated for a Cabinet position and Gundwane Gamedze (Siphofaneni) has been nominated. Gamedze recorded the highest votes in the whole country during the recent elections.
majority
A majority felt Mtiti Fakudze (Dvokodvweni) should retain his position as Agriculture Minister. Lutfo Dlamini (Ndzingeni) is also toyed around for varying ministerial positions.
SEC Managing Director Pius Gumbi is also nominated for a ministerial post by the people together with chairman of his company’s Board of Directors Sthofeni Ginindza. PUDEMO President Mario Masuku also appears in the list of suggested Cabinet ministers together with Prince Lonkhokhela.
There are others who feel Dr Phetsile Dlamini (former Health Minister) must bounce back in politics and Poppy Khoza is also part of the lists. Praise singer and soldier Cethuka Dlamini is also wanted in Cabinet. We thank everyone who participated.
A coterie of grovellers, knee-bending sycophants and blind loyalists of the obtaining political hegemony are apt to criticise multi-party democracy as divisive and, therefore, not suited for a homogeneous society like the Kingdom of Eswatini.
As I see it, these supporters and loyalists would rather sing or manufacture non-existent virtues of the oppressive Tinkhundla Political System.
Yet when it comes to the nitty-gritty nothing could be further from the truth as mirrored by the recent legislative elections.
What is emerging from the recent legislative elections is the blinding clarity that the Tinkhundla is neither a political ideology nor a political vehicle through which to spur the political transformation and development of the country but a feedlot for those who excel in the art of praise singing and grovelling.
The new children on the block in the form of elected lawmakers have taken this much further by making the entire exercise one of poverty alleviation at a personal and not at national level.
For as I see it the desperation to get to Parliament is no more driven by a political desire to transform the Swazi polity by enacting laws that would be conducive to speeding the economic development of this country than to get out of the vicious cycle of abject poverty visiting the majority of Swazis even if it is just for five years, which is the term of office of the lawmakers.
That is what emerged when I lobotomised the legislative elections. Is it any wonder a good many cases ended up in court?
As I see it, the face of poverty manifested itself either way - in respect of the contesting candidates as well as the electorate. For the majority of the contesting candidates it did not matter much that they displayed a shocking display of intellectual and political malnutrition when it came to real issues that should be the bread and butter issues of a Parliament but were content on shelling out largesse, including financial payments, to buy the votes of the electorate.
And driven by hunger and poverty, the voters were predictable. They voted for those who paid, fed and promised to extricate them from the vicious cycle of poverty that has been bequeathed them by a largely corrupt political system once they are in Parliament. Which brings me to the question if the Tinkhundla political system can compete with the worst system elsewhere because there can be no worse system than this system.
As I see it, those grovellers, knee-bending sycophants and blind loyalists given to damning multi-party democracy even without any empirical evidence that it is the worst form of democracy, do so to ingratiate themselves to the ruling class.
After all, there are still many vacancies that need to be filled in government starting from the legislature itself up to Cabinet level.
So everyone of the soulless unprincipled and spineless individuals given to praise-singing and grovelling are positioning themselves to be easily visible to government so that they are considered for the vacant positions. Invariably this is irrespective of whether they have the skills, experience and most of all requisite qualifications for the positions they aspire to be appointed into.
After all in Tinkhundla territory if a donkey comes begging for a position it would certainly get it only if it has mastered the art of praise singing, grovelling and occasionally lying about some people.
Marwick you’re made for the task
I have grown to respect veteran lawmaker Marwick Thandukukhanya Khumalo as a matured and astute politician. He has in the recent past surprised many when he openly declared that Tinkhundla had failed and now was the time the country considered taking a new political path without as much as saying in as many words.
He capped his growing stature as head of the African Union Pan African Parliament observer mission during Zimbabwe’s general elections at the end of March.
While the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission prematurely declared those elections free and fair, Marwick and his team were much more objective in their assessment and pronounced them to having not been free and fair, especially after it took a whole month to release results for the presidential elections. By breaking ranks, Marwick departed from the African tradition of hiding the truth behind a façade of unity.
As I see it, Marwick represents a new political breed, a generation that was going to transform Africa and just take it by the scruff of the neck and boot her into the 21st century, as Wole Soyinka rightly articulated, on whose shoulders we can safely entrust the future of this country. But to achieve such a milestone needed a million Marwicks to do this on a continental scale.
As I see it, we need about 30 or so Marwicks in the legislature of this the Kingdom of Eswatini to start the political transformation that he and similarly minded individuals would want to see happen here in order to extricate this country from the many man-made disasters it is in.
This is a challenge to Marwick as an old horse in Parliament to lead from both the front and the back to achieve this most desired political transformation to get this country out of the current rot.
The bones will speak on next PM
The Swazi News, the sister newspaper to this one, last Saturday threw down the gauntlet to anyone who cared to help His Majesty King Mswati III to appoint the new Prime Minister and Cabinet of ministers.
As I see it, that might be a little bit premature. This I have surmised from the fact that we are still awaiting the king to first appoint 10 lawmakers to the House of Assembly and 20 to Senate. Then perhaps can we knuckle down to the job of selecting who is who for whatever position?
Adding to this dilemma, as I see it of course, is the fact that only after the lawmakers have been appointed can we get down to the onerous task of consulting the bones on who should occupy the position of the PM first and foremost.
And it is not an easy task considering that often there are five names in the hat contesting for the position, four of which need to be eliminated from the race by day-break.
And this can take the whole night for the bone throwers to accomplish. Perhaps the Swazi News Editor will extend the time period during which we, the public, can assist in the appointment of the PM and make-up of the Cabinet. After all the PM consults with the king on the composition of the Cabinet.
In the meantime, yours truly can be gathering the best bone throwers for the night of the bones when the new PM would be selected.
MBABANE—Will Liqoqo pick Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini as the next Prime Minister when the time for nominating possible candidates comes?
This question arises from revelations that he is a frontrunner for the post of Head of Government, vacated by Absalom Themba Dlamini when Cabinet was dissolved last week.
"The events currently happening in the country need a man of Barnabas’ calibre. So far we believe he is the man for the job," said a senior member of the advisory body, Liqoqo.
The king’s advisor was referring to the recent spate of terrorism attacks, the march against Emakhosikati’s trip to the Middle East and Asia, fiscal discipline within government and the imminent threat to the royal family.
"Many members believe that these challenges need an assertive and strong individual who will be in charge of government. We do not want a situation where there are many cabinets within one, where some ministers are more powerful than the prime minister," he said.
The king’s advisor also revealed that the names of Phesheya Dlamini (Former Attorney General, and Ambassador to Kuwait), Mathendele Dlamini, Absalom Muntu Dlamini, and the possible reappointment of A.T. Dlamini also came up in some informal meetings. The advisor said only Barnabas Dlamini’s name came up in a formal meeting.
One of the people who were recently tipped for the post was Phesheya Dlamini, whose age worked against him. "He is still young, yet the position needs a very senior politician," said the advisor.
"The general feeling is that Dlamini is fit for the job," he said.
Asked whether they had considered that Dlamini’s exit coincided with the breakdown of the rule of law, the advisor said: "That has been considered. At the time of his exit, there was no constitution in place. Now we have a constitution in place, so the provisions of such a constitution guide the conduct of a Prime Minister. Therefore, how he went out should not be a problem. What we consider is the vast experience he has in dealing with such problems as those the country’s leadership is facing at the moment."
His Majesty the King is still expected to hold meetings with the SNC where the issue of the prime minister will be concluded.
Once the prime minister is appointed, and a new government is in place, the king is expected to dissolve Liqoqo, and appoint a new team.
Currently, members of the main advisory committee include Prince Sobandla, Prince Mahlaba, Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini, and Chief Magudvulela, to name but a few.
Section 67 of the Constitution states:
(1) The king shall appoint the prime minister from among members of the House acting on recommendation of the King’s Advisory Council.
(2) The king shall appoint ministers from both chambers of Parliament on the recommendation of the prime minister.
(3) At least half the number of ministers shall be appointed from among the elected members of the house.
Former Prime Minister Themba Dlamini has praised the Elections and Boundaries Commission for overseeing one of the most efficient and professionally conducted election processes yesterday.
The former prime minister who went to cast his vote at Ngcoseni, his home area, praised Chief Gija’s team for improving on the previous experience of long queues and delays and mix-up in voters’ roll.
“From all the places I passed today, lines were moving fast and it appears everything went smoothly,” Dlamini said.
He said they were now looking forward to the results being released.
“It is clear that the nation came out in their numbers and supported the exercise. We thank the nation for not only registering, but going to cast their votes,” he said.
Concerning the calls from progressive forces for change in the country, Dlamini said these people don’t know what they are talking about.
“If there is any person who is told of a Swaziland that is poor and not developed, we invite them to come to see for themselves what we have managed as a people. “This country in terms of development is better than any other serve for the bigger economy which is South Africa.
“The very same people who say Swaziland is poor and all that, when it suits them, they say we are a middle income country, which does not deserve assistance from international financial organisations,” he said.
The former prime minister said Swaziland, like any other country, has its own internal problems, which are not insurmountable.
“But I must say that we should not be called names for things we don’t do and what we are not. The lies that are being peddled will only haunt those who are spreading it,” he said.
The former prime minister said this system, at least now under the new Constitution has the checks and balances.
Meanwhile, EBC deputy chairman Mzwandile Fakudze also confirmed that the elections proceeded smoothly yesterday.
“There were no long queues this time around. In fact, our people are now waiting for voters to come in and we will close the polls without falling under any pressure,” he said.
Link http://www.observer.org.sz/weekend/main.php?id=46990§ion=mainweek
MBABANE – The Prime Minister, Absalom Themba Dlamini, is not running for the legislative elections which got underway over the weekend.
"He said he was only prepared to cast the vote for other people, but showed no interest in running for the polls," said Government Spokesperson Percy Simelane.
A section of the curious public had already raised concerns over the timing of the recent trip to Zambia by the Prime Minister, saying it worked to the detriment of the out-going government leader.
Dlamini only jetted into the country on Saturday morning after representing His Majesty King Mswati 111 in the recent Smart Partnership dialogue that was held in Lusaka, Zambia, while the date of the nominations for the legislature were held over the weekend.
An aspiring candidate for the polls is not allowed to be nominated in absentia.
Simelane said the PM’s stance on the elections should not, however, be interpreted to mean that he is no longer interested in politics.
"He only showed a lack of interest in running for the elections at constituency level, but that does not mean he is retiring from politics. He never said anything to that effect," he said.
Even during the last polls in 2003, the prime minister did not contest the elections but was only appointed by the king.
At the time of his appointment, he was the Managing Director of Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, a parastatal that is held by the king in trust for the Swazi nation.
Dlamini is also a businessman and a farmer of repute.
He runs two petrol filling stations situated in Manzini and Matsapha.
He is also the only prime minister in the country to run the state’s affairs from his own house, situated in the gated Suburb of Honey Crescent, Mbabane.
