Africa-Press – Eswatini. The 1968 Constitution of the country established a system with four regions, each invested with sufficient autonomy to govern itself in matters that concerned it alone – internal self-government without undue control by or interference from the centre, thus giving each region the ability to develop itself. Until we have a constitution framework that will make our country workable, our politicians will continue to view chapters of the Constitution as a ready-made political manifesto. Strictly speaking, if we don’t get rid of the 2005 Constitution, we will forever be presented with a Constitution that is only a mere ‘love letter’, which both the content and the context are not binding on the author or the receiver.
Structure
Also, allowing a weak structure to exist is a pleasurable welcome to non-performance from our leaders and further agitation of the restructuring of the nation. Everyone knows Eswatini is not working and will never work if we don’t restructure. The oppressed, who bear the brunt of the inequalities of this dysfunctional country, will continue to agitate until justice and equity are enshrined through a restructuring of the polity along the lines of true fiscal regional autonomy, thereby opening up the country to real growth and development by creating a level playing field for all and also giving citizens a sense of belonging.
Challenges
EmaSwati need a people’s Constitution, not what we have now. The Eswatini Constitution consists of a long list of what ordinarily could have been beneficial to the citizens and, at the same time, solve the multifaceted challenges that have bedevilled this nation. Anger, hunger, mistrust, bitterness and loss of faith, which rule the land today, can only be solved through a peaceful consensual restructuring of the polity, Constitution and reconstruction of the country by giving ourselves a new people’s constitution. The country needs to restructure the system that promotes hate speeches and hate actions. Restructuring will bring a much needed balance to Eswatini.
Those refusing to restructure, are erroneously mistaken. The truth is that Eswatini will die if the country is not consensually redesigned into a fully truthful entity. If we cannot elevate the tone of our politics or its analysis, we can at least decide not to continue to trivialise it. The country needs to be freed from the tragic consciousness in which enlightened people think that politics is about capturing power with no real benefits to the human beings who make power worth exercising. In this Eswatini political game, the people seem to be the football that the elites use for their kick-abouts. We cannot continue like this; this is unbecoming.
Source: TIMES
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