Africa-Press – Eswatini. Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini yesterday revealed that government discussed the National Dialogue logistics and upcoming 2023 national elections during their five-day Cabinet retreat held at the Eswatini Revenue Services (ERS) headquarters at Ezulwini.
Dlamini made the announcement when briefing the media in what he described as an intense engagement and discussions which were setting the tone and programme of action for the New Year.
He revealed that Cabinet took stock of the challenges that confronted the country over the past year, including the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrests, while equally paying attention to the successes that were achieved during what was undoubtedly a trying year.
“We were briefed about preparations for the upcoming national elections taking place in 2023 and are excited about the programme of action that the Elections and Boundaries Commission is putting in place to ensure that emaSwati turn up in their numbers to the polling stations,” the Prime Minister said.
Also present during the retreat were principal secretaries and government officials who made presentations and recommendations on cross-cutting issues of national interest.
Dlamini said the agenda was quite robust and included topics such as the budget, service delivery issues, healthcare, social support services, youth empowerment, job creation, food security, climate change, national security and economic recovery, among others.
Cabinet has since agreed that the country’s fiscal position was still not sustainable, something which called for the country to further tightens its belts.
“Initiatives which support food production, including the construction of large and small dams, better utilization of land and farm input subsidy, among others, will continue to be implemented,” he said.
It also came out clear, according to the prime minister, that government was aware of the challenges faced by the education sector and was in the process of rehabilitating schools that were recently damaged.
“We will, however, strive for efficiencies within our limited resources,” prime minister said when outlining government strategy for the year.
Government will also implement strategies to improve procurement processes and ensure that there is sufficient supply of drugs and food in hospitals, while also strengthening security.
The premier said government agreed that most of these issues required urgent attention. While implementing austerity measures to control fiscal spending, government plans to prioritise programmes and services that improve the lives of emaswati and the socio-economic status of the country.
To improve service delivery, the premier said government would consider ways that could improve the digitisation of government services and improve e-governance, to make services easily accessible to the public.
“Government will also implement strategies to ensure that there is sufficient fuel in the country as well as at the central pool,” Dlamini highlighted.
He said an improved fuel and fleet management system would soon be in place. On infrastructure maintenance, he said everyone could attest to the devastation that had been caused by the ongoing rains on the country’s roads infrastructure, which had adversely affected the socio-economic activities in the country.
“We are cognisant of the fact that most of the main roads have outlived their design life, with some experiencing pavement distress while most are pothole-riddled,” Dlamini pointed out. He said they would pay particular attention to roads rehabilitation.
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