Africa-Press – Eswatini. I will preface my article today by a congratulatory note to the newly-appointed Prime Minister, Russell Mmiso Dlamini, for the honour and task bestowed upon him.
The nation gazes upon you for your leadership as we traverse the current economic doldrums and navigate the nation to a stable economic zone. The task ahead is an arduous one, so we need strategic leadership to carve an economy that will create sustainable jobs for our people, distribute the benefits of growth and opportunity equally for the nation. The economy is one of the pillars that we need to focus on to build a stable Eswatini, politically and economically.
Employment creation
The people need jobs prime minister. The outgoing administration has left a good base to build on, the numbers are better and the medium-term framework is also looking good. The next step is to place policies that will translate these numbers into tangible jobs for the people. We need to recalibrate our procurement systems in the public sector to catalyse small and medium enterprises. I should hope that the strategic policies of the new administration will anchor on practical and sustainable solutions to employ our people.
The youth
Specific focus should be placed on creating sustainable jobs for our youth; we have neglected them for far too long. As a people, we hope the current administration will put the needs of the youth at centre stage. We need deliberate actions or rather, practical actionable points to get the youth working. We need to move from the rhetoric of people accounting and issue based accounting and finding the human or youthful face in every action of government. There needs to be a good change of gears and declare at least two years of the administration to be the years of the youth. It is imperative that we cultivate deliberate action items in service of our youth as a country. I beseech that this administration, under your capable leadership prime minister, will prioritise the youth.
Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the low hanging fruits that the nation can reap as a means to poverty alleviation and also as a gauge to protect against cost of living pressures. The nation ought to be in farming season, however, the cost of agricultural inputs are very high. One wonders how the nation will ever reach self-sufficiency at the current price levels. It is imperative that we invest in the input market as a nation, so that we are able to sustain agriculture. Furthermore, it is imperative that investments make agriculture attractive and profitable for our people. We have the land, therefore, we need ways to ensure that the land is utilised in a sustainable and profitable manner to generate growth for our people.
Public procurement
The country loses billions to cost over-runs on capital projects; I am yet to see a project promulgated by government being finished on time and at the cost mentioned at the bidding stage. Something has to change with our procurement procedure prime minister. It is high time we introduced fixed term deliverable contracts, with strict requirements on the suppliers. This will also require that we re-calibrate our public finance system, thus ensuring that when projects are commissioned, they are fully financed. This might require setting up an independent projects account, one that is not linked to the consolidated fund. This will infuse some efficiency in our procurement system and it will improve value for money in public expenditures and close gaps on corruption.
Corruption
Corruption is yet another factor that we need to deal with as a country. Accountability is key and we need to emulate and cultivate this throughout the government machinery. Corruption has gotten so bad in the country, that it is no longer just an issue of stolen public funds but it has become a matter of life and death. Our health system is now in shambles because corruption has been allowed unabated. The nation loses billions to corruption and I hope that your administration will take it in its strides to salvage our health sector, education system and protect our fiscal purse. Sadly, we seem to have formed a culture that normalises corruption as a nation, instead of taking strong punitive measures on corrupt individuals. They are often rewarded with new positions or moved to other vertical positions. I hope that this administration will address the problem by the horns, because we need a turnaround.
Higher education
The country’s higher education system is gravely compromised and in need of a bailout and sweeping reforms. Higher education is critical to human capital formation and we need to be deliberate to solve the problems faced by our tertiary institutions in the country. The time for reforms has arrived, as it has become a norm to read in newspapers that salaries for tertiary institutions have been delayed, which results in strikes on an annual basis. Sadly, we are a nation that seems to normalise abnormal situations with no efforts to change the obtaining status.
The turnaround
As the new administration takes office, we beg for an actual turnaround, a radical administration is what we need to solve the country’s problems.
Source: times
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