We do not welcome King Mswati III as Chairman

Mmegi Editor | Thursday September 1, 2016 11:14

He will occupy the seat for the next 12 months during which he will be mandated to give the bloc a direction on a wide range of issues from security, conflict resolution, and maintenance of good governance and the rule of law. He will be the overseer of democratic practices in the region and his interventions will be observed with keen interest.

However, our position is that Africa’s last absolute monarchy should implement reforms that will accommodate democratic practices in that country. Just next door in Lesotho, King Letsie remains a recognised figure in the country’s structures although there are political parties that regularly contest for the running of the country. In South Africa and Botswana to mention a few, traditional leaders continue to get recognition in the face of political contests that compete with ideologies on running the two countries.

In the United Kingdom, the Royal Family continues to get recognition even after centuries of political or adopting democracy as their way of governance. The Queen is accorded the highest status in the structures of the country and she recognises the independence of government. The two entities work together for the benefit of the nation. The list is endless, as we also remember that Spain has a King, who also works hand in hand with the government and the Spaniards go to the polls regularly. We urge King Mswati III to recognise the importance of multi-party democracy as he will be in constant interaction with SADC heads of state, some of whom were opposition leaders at some stage.

There are Swazis who are thirsty and itching to play a role in their country’s affairs. The King should influence that process and we can bet that Swaziland will witness both economic growth and political tolerance, as well as a population of ambitious youth. The system that we are proposing should be similar, in line with, or better than the aforementioned countries and recognising the King and his family’s statuses. The King should imagine a situation where the region would have resolved not to afford him this opportunity to be its leader for reasons that they disagree with his believes and views. Obviously he was going to be frustrated and feel disrespected. That is exactly how some Swazi people feel about being led by the King and with no prospects whatsoever that they can change their government. King Mswati III should not use the past to hold Swazis hostage. He should embrace civilisation. We remain sceptical of his reign!

Today’s thought

“You can’t let your past hold your future hostage.” 

– LL Cool J