This
is an unedited version of the article published by the Times of Swaziland under
the “As I See It” column on June 19, 2013
By Vusi Sibisi
Ever since His Majesty King Mswati III
pronounced his dream of transforming the Kingdom of eSwatini into a First World
nation everybody, from high ranking politicians to government apparatchiks and
the typical sing-along blind loyalists of the obtaining political order, have
been tripping over themselves trying to out-shout everyone else in amplifying
their efforts and contributions towards appeasing the appointing authority.
In my simplistic view I had thought that
the First World dream envisioned by the King was a directive to government to
come up with a concrete policy framework that would not only explain what this was all
about but also how this would be attained and as well as ensuring that the
entire nation was brought aboard. In that way we would all have a common
understanding of the sort of First World we want to achieve as well as how we
can collectively go about to attain this stated objective.
After all the vision can only be achieved
through the full participation of the nation. And the only way the nation can
participate is through being educated about the elements whose sum total is the
achievement of the stated goal as well as articulating the road-map leading to
the realization of the First World dream.
But while everyone has been parroting the
virtues of the Kingdom of eSwatini transforming into a First World nation, no
one has paused to consider first, the practicality of this happening and
second, the modalities of how this can be achieved in the event it was
feasible. Although some years have gone by since the King piloted this enviable
evolution of the Kingdom from a Third to a First World country, no one among
the phalanx of those competing for his favours has paused long enough to
consider the need to get the entire nation aboard the transformation train.
As I see it, the king’s well-meaning
intentions are always frustrated by individuals who are self-serving to the
extent that their only priorities lie in currying the monarch’s favours. I can
recall vividly some years ago when during a graduation ceremony at the
University of Swaziland the King charged government to compile a data of
unemployed graduates. Of course this created expectations across the nation
that this data would be useful in either government identifying areas of
development that would absorb unemployed graduates or piloting a social
responsibility programme through insurance or other means in order to support
unemployed graduates. It is anybody’s guess if the king’s instruction was
carried out since the following year, at a similar event, the unemployed were
told that they were on their own and should look outside this country for job
opportunities.
Perhaps had someone within the echelons of
power considered the enormity of the King’s First World dream and its possible
impact on the people, they would have stumbled on the realities of the
multi-faceted challenges facing the majority of the people. For if truth be
told, there is no magical quantum leap over the many daunting challenges facing
the people - especially the disenfranchised majority at foot of the economic
ladder - that they can simply evaporate into thin air by the mere mention of
the First World dream. To realize a dream takes much practical effort than
fantastical theories.
The stark reality is that the majority of
the people are still starved of the basic amenities of life to even start
dreaming of transiting to another and better world. Many people, especially in
rural areas, still have to compete with livestock for water. Many people still
lack the means to make a decent living owing to widespread unemployment such
that they cannot guarantee themselves a single decent meal on any given day.
Poverty remains foremost in the minds of the majority of our people to even
imagine the bolts and nuts of a First World country. Access to health
facilities is still a nightmare to many and even where health facilities are
accessible there is no guarantee that they are adequately equipped with
requisite professionals let alone drugs and equipment.
But before I lose myself in the melee of
the many daily challenges facing the majority of the people in their daily
struggle to keep body and soul together, let me get to the point. The point is
has anyone among the high ranking politicians and government apparatchiks
responsible for crystallizing the King’s vision into reality taken leave of
their high backed leather chairs and gone to the people to either explain how
the state hoped to transform their lives or to solicit their buy-in into the
First World vision. Or are they busy tripping over each other with incoherent
sound-bites that would be sweet music to the king just so that they can curry
his favours.
As I see it, the expectations are that once
the head of state has pronounced a vision it becomes incumbent upon those
charged with steering the political ship of state to come out with clear
policies, at times including legislation, that would crystallize that vision.
Also equally important is that the vision, once demystified and simplified for
the ordinary folk, should be taken and sold to the people although consultation
is always the most favoured option since it recognizes the value of the people
not just as spectators but as strategic to national developmental initiatives.
Unfortunately the obtaining political system still subscribes to the long
discredited top-down approach in which the leadership barks orders to the
people without expecting any resistance but only conformity.
The fact cannot be overlooked that given
the huge social and economic disparities in which a significantly small section
of the population is already enjoying a First World lifestyle while the
majority of the people’s lives is a daily grind and unpredictable. In the
circumstances, it is crucial that policies, including legislation, are
developed that would address these imbalances. Specifically, the path to First
World status should be defined by progressive programmes that are deliberately
skewed to address the economic imbalances so that the challenges facing the
majority of the people are speedily addressed to ensure that the nation can
move forward in unison.
Otherwise the haphazard pronunciations by
those currying favour with the king on the First World vision can only divide
the nation ostensibly since citizen X who currently has to share water with
animals; is living below the international poverty datum line without any
guarantee to a decent meal on any given day; is ravaged by disease without any
hope of the balm provided by a strong health delivery system, etc., will always
wonder how on earth he/she could be transposed into what to him/her is a
mythical vision of a First World.
The long and short of it is; is the First
World vision realistic considering that owing to the social and economic
imbalances the majority of our compatriots are still struggling to emerge from
the trials and tribulations of a Fourth World while an insignificant small
elite is already reaping the fruits of a First World country?
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