Africa-Press – Eswatini. His Majesty King Mswati III says Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders were impressed by the Tinkhundla system of governance after learning about the country’s elections process, even terming it a “true meaning of home-grown democracy.”
The King said this during a press conference where he delivered a report of his trip to the 43rd Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Governments in Luanda, Angola, at Ludzidzini Royal Residence on Saturday evening.
“We reported about our national elections and the overwhelming registration numbers we witnessed, whereby over 90 per cent of eligible voters have made a choice to exercise their constitutional right to have a say about how the country is governed,” said the King.
“They expressed admiration of our system and wished us well on the upcoming elections together with other countries that are having elections this year and next year, such as Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Botswana and South Africa,” the King said, adding that “the community would also send election observers to monitor the elections along with other regional and international bodies such as the African Union and the United Nations.”
His Majesty said the summit was a resounding success and highlighted a number of issues, which were discussed in the closed session, such as security and peace given the challenges that the region has been faced with of late.
“It became clear to all of us that no country can live in isolation and no country can succeed without cooperating with others, and we reported that the situation had stabilised back home and that the nation has heeded to the call to silence the guns as per the AU’s call,” the King said.
He emphasised on the fact that they spoke strongly against the conflict in Niger and in Ukraine and Russia, as it had adverse effects such as the displacement of people and exacerbation of food insecurity. “We reminded each other about Vision 2063 and how conflicts and wars derail progress towards it,” he explained.
The Head of State also spoke on the theme of the summit; ‘human and financial capital as the main factors for sustainable industrialisation of the region’, and emphasised on the importance of quality education to capacitate the member states’ human capital, decrying the fact that most African countries still export their natural resources as raw material.
collaboration
“Many countries within the region have natural resources but there still isn’t value addition, and therefore, we all spoke in agreement about the need to cooperate in this regard, and to further extend the collaboration to other key areas such as agriculture, energy and trade,” said the King.
His Majesty also reported about the honouring of former Botswana president Seretse Khama as a founding member of the community, following the bestowment of the same honour to the late King Sobhuza II during last year’s meeting.
“We agreed to make the community the SADC our forefathers and founders envisioned and one that will promote regional integration to ensure growth of the region,” the King said.
For More News And Analysis About Eswatini Follow Africa-Press
