Africa-Press – Eswatini. A Member of Parliament candidate under Gilgal Inkhundla says he is an Eswatini citizen following concerns on his nationality and eligibility in contesting in the national elections.
Antti Jussi Avhininen (46) was nominated at Gilgal Inkhundla under Vikizijula Chiefdom in the Lubombo region.
Vikizijula Chiefdom is under Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Commissioner, Chief Mawandla Gamedze.
Avhininen made it through the vetting process and is among nine other nominees who will battle it out during the primary elections on August 26.
The concerns raised by some of the candidates in the race with Avhininen was that he is not a Liswati by descent.
According to the EBC, nominations are conducted in accordance with Section 80 (1) (b) of the Constitution, which designates chiefdoms as nomination centres.
Section 96 of the Constitution states that in order for the nominee to qualify, that person should have attained the age of 18 years and must be an Eswatini citizen, among other things.
Some of the concerned community members said lodging a complaint with the commission was hard as they alleged that the EBC Commissioner, Gamedze, was also the chief at Vikizijula.
They argued that Avhininen should also be disqualified in the same way that Dumisane Gamedze was. Gamedze is an Asian national who was nominated for MP at Siphofaneni but was disqualified by the EBC for not being a Liswati.
When explaining Gamedze’s disqualification, the EBC said it was important to understand that the law stipulates that for one to be eligible to stand for elections and be nominated, that person must be a Liswati national.
Some community members said they barely knew Avhininen and further stated that he always travelled overseas.
A copy of an Eswatini national identity document in possession of this publication shows that the nominee (Antti) goes by the names Antti Jussi and his surname is Avhininen.
He was born in 1977 and his chief code is 618.
One of the candidates in the running with Avhininen said all he knew about him was that he was from overseas and allegedly barely understood nor spoke Siswati.
When asked if he had lodged a complaint as advised by the EBC, the candidate claimed that he had not because he was afraid he may end up being victimised by those in authority.
However, Avhininen said he is a true Liswati and has been a member of his community for over 10 years.
“Everybody knows me and I know everybody. We are a great community who support and help one another. I will let the things I have built or organised for the community speak for themselves on my contribution to the community thus far. It is no coincidence that these rumours surface now, only after my being a member of the community for over a decade,” Avhininen stated.
He said he was a private person, who does not talk about private matters when asked where he was born.
“When it comes to citizenship, I am proudly a Liswati and all procedures and protocol were followed when I became one. When I heard the rumours from my fellow community members, I did give a copy of the paperwork to the community elders to cut wings from these politically motivated baseless rumours,” he stated.
financing
“I have been based in Eswatini for years already. I have been doing plenty of business travel due to the job I held where my task was to get large financing from Europe, USA and UAE for several African countries.
I wish to draw from my vast experience (20 years as financier) in acquiring financing and do the same for our great country as well as my community, should the people so decide,” Avhininen stated.
However, he said should he be elected, this travel would no longer be required at this magnitude.
He added that this was a better time to use the vast experience he has obtained in these travels to empower his community and the country he loves so much. Vikijizula Chief Mawandla Gamedze said he could not comment on the matter due to conflict of interest as he was the chief of the area and also the EBC Commissioner.
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