Brian Brizo Mohammed

ARE U A DZIVA OR DIVA

2012-09-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

…Is the tag on wrong wannabes or we have our own dictionary

I may not be a stylist or fashion police officer but after listening to this hip hop song about a Diva I repeatedly listened to it and discovered that a diva is nothing bigger than a celebrated female singer.I hear the song going ‘A diva is a female version of a hustler,” which according to my understanding this is the term most Americans describe a woman of outstanding talents in the world of opera and by extension theatre, cinemas and popular music .

I have noted within the social forum which I feel I am a bit attached to it has been widely used to separate the chuff from those deemed of a better class or value.

Being a nosey township klever I check with the internet’s encyclopaedia and discovered that the word entered the English language in the late 19th century; it is derived from the Italian noun DIVA, a female deity. The plural of the word in English is divas in Italian dive, the basic sense of the term is goddess the feminine of the Latin word Divus someone sanctified after death or Latin dues a god the word is coordinates with a Hindu term Devi meaning goddess which intern originates from an ancient sentient language one of the earliest Hindu European languages. The word is also coordinates with an avastent term denoting the zolars strength word concept of the divas and the Italian word dive meaning a female deity. Choice entertainment spoke with Father Matthias Yaw Kotoka Amuzu the parish priest of ST maurice Catholic Church LA and this is what he had to say.

Upon listening to the hip hop music I drew my personal conclusion that this word was originally used to relate to female but here in most social circles especially on Facebook my friends are using the same term to describe extremely independent and widely talented woman, a woman who is seen to be a very talented even sometimes you cannot imagine how she got all those skills, knowledge and wisdom so that is actually the meaning of it. There are many women who have been actually considered as divas at our time for example I don’t know if you’ve heard about Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and. So you know what a goddess is actually, because it’s a deity or that has some other powers.

So any woman who tries so much to really I mean present herself as an extra ordinary or extra ordinary talented in a particular way through singing is termed as a diva and that is the origin of the term and that is how people are taking it as so any woman who is doing very well will also to be referred to or like to use that word. so the main thing is that I don’t want to used the word is a devilish name no I don’t want to say that one but it is a name of a goddess but when Christianity is concerned for me is a dangerous term to be used for a person who fears God to apply that to herself because if you believe in God then it’s not good to add goddess I mean once you do that you are Exodus chapter 20 verse 1 the ten commandments it’s there properly spelt out I’m the Lord your God you shall not have any other god before me. Because when you call yourself a goddess you are more or less trying to challenge God. Is a devilish term I told u I don’t want to lose it so if you use it, it means you are either inspired or possessed by any demonic spirit or lesser god which is actually manipulating you to achieve your parochial desire.

WAS THERE A NEED FOR YOUR TEARS

2012-09-06T11:20:00.002-07:00

….These religious girls cry for no apparent reason

I know and researched that women cry on average 2 to four times per month, whilst we (the masculine souls) only once in 2months. It is no hidden fact that women often cry because of anger or powerlessness whilst we cry because of emotion and sports results.

I remember the last time I cried was when I was told of a story about someone I had thought was an angel who I had hurt with lies and betrayal. I mean receiving the saddest news that she is dating not one but two of your friends. I had to cry because I always perceived my self as a liar in her life such that I was danger to her.

I really adored her and even worshiped the ground she walked on but however I have realised that she was rather on my case maybe in order to cover her tracks. One thing I am proud is that I had to lie in order to protect both my feelings and hers.

It was during that hour that I came to think that some of us are just capable of winning whatever prize of tempting the feminine souls and make them pull their underwear and touch your willy on the bare.

It just does not mean that moving closer to that person you eyeing her fat wallet or helicopter but it is just the fact that most men want sex more often and it seems it is more important to most men it is the most important aspect of quality in humankind.

I know for a fact that personally when I move on a woman, I don’t care of how many times she had broken her virginity or her ‘ideal buffon’ to say the least. I just wanna move in and share an intimate relationship.

It is just disheartening that on the other side of the coin my ‘ideal’ partner would prefer being an archaeologist which she hopes to dig the conspiracies of why Adam & Eve were kicked out in the Garden of Eden.

I just don’t understand why one would be adventurous on her sexual fulfilment as if she had seen me in a revelation from an angel and behave lovingly towards my body and soul and anticipate for more. It is from such that I sulk and grow an attitude which some would portray as bad mannered that in a twinkle of an eye she would feel she wants to terminate what you had started. I know can only be done on men who experience premature ejaculation but should not happen to a man who drives his vehicle well.

The world knows that we always accept anything second hand. A man expects his better half to be the best half. I know this women to hide the previous history from her boyfriend which may disrupt her future family life, and some think we will have ill feelings about them.

I have heard that married women Women hide their past from their husband because they value their relationship after their marriage with their husbands. They do not want to take the chance of revealing something which will harm their status as a woman in the eyes of their husband. In our society a woman has to go through many situations and circumstances which makes her to behave and think like this. Even I justify their point because I feel if they reveal things which their husband might not like things could become much tougher. We need to remember the fact, that still in our country the decision of the male partner is what counts the more. Therefore a woman has to be very careful about things and circumstances and deal with them with their own suitable way .

CHANGES IN OUR LIVES

2012-08-29T22:43:00.000-07:00

Brian it seems like you have changed…Oh yes I have changed going over two months without clean shaving my head means a lot…Not in a bad way but to enrich my soul with wisdom which had been limited since my childhood. It is for this reason and on another day bold enough to mention that in 2011 left my country for overseas shores to enrich my intelligence.

I have since rediscovered that I have to live my life to the fullest and not impress anyone with high-profiled pictures on Facebook in front of Buckingham Palace or Emirates stadium but have realised that I just need to refocus for the next two years for the better upbringing of my children.

It is for that reason that I pray to the Almighty to comfort me where I had been hurt and further pray that he gives me strength to walk until I become comfortable with my target in life.

It does not help to wish my parents were here to see me grow…It wont bring them to me but they are watching me from the heavens and protect me as I take the underground train, fly over the sky leaving my children hungry and wailing…

I know I have been very disrespectful in life in the past, had some bad reputation of bad hand of bashing but I later discovered that I don’t have to live to hurt and destroy other people’s innocence. I always pray to God to always to forgive of such , I mean you know yourselves I just don’t need to be mentioned.

My extended forgiveness is spread through to the one who inflicted the scar on my face and damaged the whole innocent look I had and this goes out to the main source of the misunderstanding. Guys I forgave you should know that I just have to live my life on the positive.

I know they used to laugh openly when some people would see me deformed, that did not bring me down but it inspired to work hard and ignore such imbeciles who are only concerned in gossiping and backbiting other people who have achieved bigger but has never revealed it to the world.

My true friends in life I pray for your success and all those who always respected me especially Bongani Kwarang Nxumalo from Eskomu KaMsunduza, this is my best friend whatever my high classed friends would say they know my life does not go without shaking a hand of this man ….This guy has always showed me what true friendship is…It is just a matter of time I work together with you so we can be in the same level my brother.I always pray for you and your mother my homeboy.

From this second page of my revelation I just want to lead a life which is inspiring to many brothers in my dusty backyard ekasi and I know as we trust in God he will definitely bless us and we definitely thank him for the little he will provide because God will never give you something somebody else is supposed to have.

It is for this reason that jealousy about other people’s possessions is not the way to go…nekutsi Brian sojola nabani kumhluphe ngani lomunye umuntfu; I always hear a lot saying “Yesterday he hooked up the b#$%^ from Manzini” why is it that people will always be concerned on what other people are doing…

It so unfortunate that most people are always pointing fingers on the men of the cloth labelling them with all sorts of insults. I am just happy none of the pastors has ever gone to a drinking hole to preach there but we are the ones who leave our alcohol half filled bottles and go to the churches and gossip…Why? I just wonder.

After living all the dirty life filled with sex, alcohol, drugs, crime I pray to God to give me strength to walk on the right path until I climb the stairs of faith and find God’s love…I wish at the end of the day I should be the direct reflection of my surroundings and people I live with….Just Pray you will find comfort

2012-08-01T12:47:00.002-07:00

THE EYE OF THE SWAZI SOUL

After serious consideration please countdown to my ambition of publishing my thoughts and the funny side of the country's reports. Be it from the drunk side of life, be it those politicians and unionists which shook my tiny kingdom Swaziland. Surely U will have something to keep in your archives , something which will make you think of the year 2012 and wish it had more drama , laughter and craziness...

A sneak preview of the eye : An eagle’s eye has been glued to the following publications which have led to the accuracy of the quotes: Times of Swaziland: The Swazi Observer: The Mirror: Mail & Guardian: Swazi News: Weekend Observer.

The EYE HAS BEEN CREATED & WRITTEN BY MYSELF AND WOULD COVER THE FOLLOWING TOPICS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

Introduction- An eagle’s eye on Swaziland Social Front

- 2012 THE YEAR OF DELIVERANCE

- THE ONES THAT SHOOK SWAZILAND

- THE DRUNKEN SIDE OF OUR SOCIAL LIVES

-IT AINT GLITTERING FOR OUR MINING SECTOR

- DOING IT THE SWAZI WAY

- A YEAR BEFORE OUR PARLIAMENTARIANS BECOME ORDINARY

-SEXY CINDERELLA

- BOYCOTTING THAT HAND THAT FEEDS OUR CHILDREN

- OUR NEIGHBOURS EYES

SUCKER PUNCH OF SOME OF THE ALREADY PREPARED CONTENT:

A bag full corporate infighting, Boycotts, Promises, Garbage debates, Everlasting empty promises, glaring economic collapse as it had been experienced by the once powerful Greece. Now that our parliamentarians are gearing for their exit packages as the country prepares for the 2013 elections. I guess they will shy away from the social scene following their failure to ensure an economic growth for the ordinary Swazi who according to the international journalistic front being fed with ‘nothing’ as compared to the country’s politicians fat cheques.

Just like Greece I guess the once peaceful Kingdom has been attacked by the economic Hitman as John Perkins would in most instances refer to the world’s inability to deal with economic challenges.

I am still not sure how the country’s leadership defines democracy due to the fact that protests action, liberation of the ordinary citizens human rights, labour outcries are treated in isolation. It is for this reason that the less than five political movements which amongst them include the People’s Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and its youth wing the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO); remain being labelled ‘terrorism groups.

Following the country’s continued ‘begging’ of the South Africa government E2.4 billion bailout , the Swazi people are not the ones interested in the loan but it remains government efforts to save face in their failure to curb corruption and exhorbent spending in recent years.

- - “2012 is a new year, with new promises. 2011 was a year of problems .The number 11 is a sign that there would be upheavals in government, countries, families and other areas. The number 12, signals that this year of Benjamin. All people of Swaziland are Benjamins. This is the year of prosperity, a year full of gifts. God loves us and we should thank Him,” taken from Times of Swaziland report titled “2012 A YEAR OF BENJAMINS”- by His Majesty King Mswati III during the annual prayer service at Lozitha Palace.

- - “If we don’t get the E2.4 billion we will be in a very bad shape. We are not out of the woods even though we will be getting the E7 billion from SACU,” sourced from Times of Swaziland report titled “ GOVT STILL NEEDS 2.4 BN SA BAILOUT,” by Ministry of Finance Principal Secretary Khabonina Mabuza quoted saying that the E7 billion the country was to receive from Southern Africa Customs Union was not enough.

-- “The resolutions, especially those on Swaziland clearly reflect the determination of the South African government to see the people of the SADC region living better lives through democratic governments that meet the aspirations of the people,” was quoted from Swazi Observer titled “UNBAN POLITICAL PARTIES-ANC ADVISES,”

- - “My country is monitoring the situation in Swaziland closely, even though the lawyers boycott has ended for the time being. As we said in response to media inquiries on the, we applaud those in the legal community, who have chosen to stand up for judicial independence and the rule of law despite loss of personal income,” United States Ambassador to Swaziland Earl Irving was quoted by Swazi Observer where he explained that his country was concerned with any infringement on a person’s right to access justice or any threat to judicial independence.

- - “I don’t understand these people who are turning funerals into social gatherings by drinking alcohol. I thought alcohol was for one to enjoy and be happy noT to drink and then go to a funeral,” were words from Magistrate Sindisile Zwane.

-- One Busisiwe Dlamini told Mbabane Magistrate Court that she had been attending her sister’s lobola ceremony but had no idea that the beverage she was having on the day had been spiked. This was after she was driving with her blood alcohol high

MY DEAR READERS JUST GLUE YOU EYE ON THIS BLOG U WILL SURELY NEVER REGRET

JURIST - Paper Chase: UN rights chief says NGO restrictions undermine human rights

2012-05-08T11:55:00.001-07:00

JURIST - Paper Chase: UN rights chief says NGO restrictions undermine human rights

IS THERE A NEED TO PRIVATISE GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS

2012-04-26T05:28:00.001-07:00

I may not be qualified to state such but being a bonafide Swazi interested in seeing the country progressing than being privatized to selfish business people who are only concerned about making money than empowering fellow Swazis.
I have noted that a number of government organs in the country have been privatized and some are still in the process of going through such a phase. It is no hidden fact that some parastatals like CTA have been a financial drain to government to such an extent that Government is dreaming of reducing the CTA’s looting hole through privatization.
Even though the country is engulfed with huge financial crushes one should know that , asking too much might lead to the government being forced to privates most services in order to benefit tinini
According to my untrained eye government is not in the business of creating demand but it provides services for its society to function happily and by privatizing most of the services it will mean that a lot of fly-by –night businesses would emerge and create new demands for new products. We know that our local government picks up thrash , while the national government services ensures that it teaches our children through OVC fund then I smell a rat when in the end of the day government privatizes its essential services then these ‘rich’ businesses will pick more thrash and make a lot of money at government’s expense.
I don’t care what other people would say but the Swazi government is directly accountable to me and you . Even next year the country will hold its elections and we (Swazis ) eligible to vote. On the other side of the private sector the corporate CEO Is controlled by a small group of people known as the board of directors while we (Swazis) wish to fire our Members of Parliament, all we have to do is show up at the polls (something Swazis in the Urban areas are notoriously bad at).
I have just read from some useful publication that Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia (Now Zimbabwe) 1964-1979, often said: "we were never beaten by our enemies - we were betrayed by our friends". The West essentially promised white leaders in South Africa that they would be allowed to continue practicing apartheid if they would stop arming Rhodesia in her war against communism. Between 1979 and 1980, Rhodesia fell into Marxist dictatorship under Mugabe and had its name changed to Zimbabwe . The World Bank provided loans to Mugabe up until May 2000. This is not an academic issue since millions face starvation because of Mugabe's Marxist policy of seizing the nation's farms. Ominously, Mugabe has turned to communist China to run farms in Zimbabwe.

In the 1980s the world saw starving children in Ethiopia, but what they did not realize was that this was a planned famine. The Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam undertook nationalization of agriculture and massive population resettlement program modeled on Stalin and Mao's starvation programmes in the 1930s and 40s which killed millions. Meanwhile the World Bank continued to send Mengistu millions of dollars, much of it intended for the ministry of agriculture undertaking the resettlement programme.

In country after country in Africa, there has been no accountability in the use of World Bank loans... Billions in World Bank loans have been embezzled in Africa and rarely anyone is held accountable and prosecuted.

It comes as no surprise then that by its own admission, the World Bank's purported policy of strengthening African free market economies by lending $50 billion for 'Structural Adjustment programs' and other projects over the past thirty years has been an abject failure. That's because their real purpose was the exact opposite:

The Bank's own reports in the 1980s revealed that it played a major role in nationalizing the development process throughout the Third World. Regarding these harsh conditionalities imposed by the structural adjustment loans, a 1985 confidential bank report by leading development experts concluded that 'the SAL's seemingly hard and all-encompassing conditionality is largely illusory'. The bank and some proponents of foreign aid claim that a wave of privatization swept the Third World but actually 'privatization was almost all talk'. World Bank loans either go directly to the recipient government or must be guaranteed by the government. So, by inevitably increasing the politicization of Third World economies, World Bank aid was the economic tranquilizer dart which created a weaker domestic market for the foreign multinationals to feed on. I remember two years ago , when I just ignorant of the world’s political situations but after intense reading I concluded that by end of the 1980s that by end of the 1980s the banks had successfully empowered and corrupted Third World governments with billions in bank loans. Liberal democracy and the free market had been strangled. Now for the second play: The sell off. The directive for the sell off came from the World Bank and IMF at the end of the 1980s as shown by World Bank documents signed by James Wolfensen and leaked to a BBC investigative journalist, Greg Palast. The World Bank flew in their teams who dictated their plans, an average of 111 conditions in a pre-written document, to each nation's finance minister. If he refused he would be denied any further loans and the life blood which had sustained his government would be cut. These conditions included selling off the natural resources and national industries to foreign multinationals. In the case of Argentina, they required the nation to give up its gas water and oil to Vivendi, Repsol, Enron and a few other multinationals. In 1988 Jeb Bush made a call to an Argentine senator asking him to sell a gas pipeline to Enron at one fifth of its market value. In return, a percentage of the discount would be deposited in the senator's Swiss bank account. The process has been called 'briberization' rather than privatization.

When making the case for such a grand conspiracy as this, it is helpful to call a whistleblower to the witness stand. Published in November 2004, the book entitled Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins ( now a New York Times best seller) is a public confession by an insider about the real purpose of Western loans to developing countries. Working in a private consulting firm, Perkins was one of the 'economic hit men' who carried out the plan detailed in the World Bank documents. Perkins describes a classical conspiracy between government and big business. The U.S. National Security Agency recruited and trained the 'economic hit men' to carry out their duties through private consulting firms and other corporations. The beneficiaries of the conspiracy were the international bankers and shareholders in the multi-national corporations. Unable to repay the loans organized by the hit men, developing countries had to surrender their national resources to their Western creditors.

What an extraordinary scam: Destroy a country's domestic capitalism and free-markets, get it into massive debt and then with financial gun to its head, shake it down for everything its got. It is even more extraordinary for the fact that, because this piracy is conducted in international waters, it isn't even illegal! One of the questions raised in the next chapter is whether or not these agents have been acting, to some degree, on Her Majesty's (secret) service.

SUCCESSFUL MEN COME FROM HUMBLE BACKGROUNDS

2012-04-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

…In this life of VAT, Political instability, Gossip , Anger & Betrayal we will never achieve the same things and reach the same goals

After hearing one of my ex girlfriends (amongst the many) spewing bile about my background which she claims to have known at the drinking holes in the city where yours truly was bleached with disgraceful information about my past (which I am forced to admit that 65% of such is true). At first I did not take such kindly because it is not hidden fact that I was raised in a stick and mud house with electricity reaching our tiny hours six years after the hit of the millennium.

It is for this reason that I respect her for being open to me even though she was equally shocked that I am from a poor background and had a lot of run-ins with crimes on my heydays of youth. It is good that such was revealed because it made me feel inspired to write this piece and tell teach that world that most locals are always battling with reality that most of the successful men in the country came from those stick and mud –paraffin lamped houses.

They are the same people who considered an avocado season to be a blessing because their families never stressed about putting something on the table. I mean these are the ones who have dismally failed while on throne of political power and have treated all the poor with disrespect while fattening their pot bellies on the much availed funds.

Judging from the current situation our country is facing I have noticed that there is a vast inequality of wealth distribution which has been cause by the private ownership on the real estate and production sector.

If one would have at least ten seconds and run around the country’s main cities and check who the landlord is Mr Zhasjkkr from some planet beyond earth. One trained eye like yours truly there is just kicking himself wondering what will the ordinary Swazi own in the next six months-Nada; kute, vokol; everything has been been taken by our foreign friends but we made to suffer on the unfamiliar VAT attack with earning still motionless for the good or worse (I am just confused).

Social, intellectual and economic inequalities that arise from hard work, self-discipline and superior IQ are everywhere to be seen in the country. They are a natural state whereby those endowed with such qualities will rise in social status, if they so wish, and to whom the benefits of wealth will accrue.

It is no hidden factor that our natural habitation provides no evidence as it is enscribed in the Holy Bible that “Men were created equal” and that all that we will achieve in life will always be the same. While my Government is against the proposed mass action by local unions , the ordinary neutral Swazi has been left shaking in fear of the unknown.

It is no hidden fact that while the masses are shaking in fear there is a minority group of Swazis who are not concerned of the developments but continue to sit in the country’s hotels boardrooms with a sole intention of creating a successful business and have even forgotten that the word charity exists. These generate huge wealth and their products have immeasurably improved the living standards of their porch backyards than 999 233 Swazis suffering.

It is no hidden fact that these individuals exist to make money and profit so they can meet demands of the faceless investors in order for them to be able to re-invest the capital to make more products thus at the end of the day handsomely rewards its shareholders and two weeks ago I was taken aback by the sudden closure of the country’s only multi million facility and I find it strange that someone within its hierarchy is failing to own up on the consequences which have led to the Swaziland Association Nurses withdrawing its nursing staff from the facility. I am also wondering as to why no one fueled the investigation of the death of two orderlies (with the last medical report reported missing). Government has never set up this facility to resemble a death camp where the old, weak and vulnerable would be subjected to political indifferences which would put their lives in danger.

This is just not a funny affair where I see some of the health politicians live on the backs of others and are not concerned about the people dying of TB but they are quick to jump to the streets
I just wish to see Swaziland being a more caring and equal society which is one of compulsory equality and even higher levels of taxation to support an ever growing welfare parasite class.

FROM AN UNTRAINED EYE- AM FEELING LIKE OUR BILETARAL AGREEMENTS ARE YIELDING SOUR FRUITS

2012-03-22T03:07:00.002-07:00

I might be touching a hornets nest on this one. I mean the reactors of every posting might turn rebellious when I touch on issues which boil around politics and the economies.

Being an untrained man in this regard I am not sure if the relationship the country has been engaging itself in really benefits the ordinary citizenry or certain sectors of the country.

The country has been seen falling in love with oil rich countries such as Kuwait and Equilateral Guinea. I hear such marriages usually take years to stabilize but I am happy that Kuwait has been seen pumping million for the highly criticized Sikhuphe Airport project. then what? No one knows if the country’s relationship with Kuwait goes beyond Sikhuphe because after the smell of the oriental oils presented to the lucky, I don’t see anything which would benefit the ordinary citizenry from the oil rich country.

I know those who are always privileged to high profiled information that oil rich country opened up for interested Swazis in the Agriculture sector to consult government and get information of how they can take advantage of the opportunity. I wish to hear who has already benefited on such or it was one of the ‘known’ stunts by the country’s politicians to justify their late night dining with ‘agents of investments’.

Recently the country is said to have fallen in love with Equilateral Guinea another oil rich country but unfortunately negative reports about the country’s leader seem like it will yield a bone crushing divorce with the country. It is so unfortunate that the the French Government has frozen the leader’s assets whilst they are trying hard to investigate money laundering allegations. I know now that such has emerged there is nothing fruitful the country is going to benefit from this marriage.

On the other side of the coin I hear of an invisible figure known as African Growth and Opportunities and I hear it’s a brainchild of the American government. I hear it was an opportunity for the country to receive mouth watering incentives for frican countries to continue their efforts to open their economies and build free markets and in return African countries would access US markets without restrictive quotas or import taxes.

It was during the introduction of AGOA that Matsapha industrial sites was littered with textile factories who as of today I am confused of who benefits from investment. Fine such provided job opportunities to our sisters but the basic income it provides leaves a lot to be desired.

I remember stumbling on an article where the US Department of Commerce said the value of Swaziland's AGOA exports increased nearly threefold, from $65 million in 2001 to a peak of $199 million in 2005; Lesotho's exports reached $140 million in 2001 and peaked at $467 million in 2004.

According to IRIN News network during the peak period of Swaziland's AGOA exports, employee numbers were double the current figure - about 15,000 Swazis, mostly women, are employed in garment factories financed by Taiwanese investors and operated by managers from mainland China.

It is just sad that each and every year factories close …and with the low salaries received by our sisters in the factories they cannot afford paying the taxes which at the end of the day would help government improve the country’s social programmes.

SOME JOURNALISTS ARE MORE LOYAL TO THOSE IN POWER AT THE EXPENSE OF THE PUBLIC

2012-03-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

… The media’s role goes beyond collecting, packaging and disseminating information it should help in checking misuse of authority, expose corruption and defend human rights

Is the country happy with the manner events are still reported in the country?

Being a person who has keen interests on the operation of media in the country I have noticed that the country’s private media is scrutinizing every deal or move our government makes however such has not been going well with the sympathizers or those who are secretly working as human shields for some corrupt or rich Swazi Citizens.

Many have been accused of being ‘protectors’ as they always react to riots about their paymasters in the disguise that they are feeding the nation with a clear picture of the how the ‘true’ yet not so true events unfolded.

While the public have a right to complain about the kind of information they receive, the challenges facing the media go beyond the journalists themselves.

The rich and the country’s politicians and media owners are the ones who should get the bigger share of the blame for the poor debate on important national issues.

It is worth noting that the involvement of some high profile individuals who push or protect their evil agendas has greatly affected the way journalists conduct their business.

It is just saddening that political cleavages are dividing the journalistic communities resulting in lack of dialogue and solidarity among the various factions within the corporate sector and government, hence preventing journalists from jointly defending their common interests.

I have heard in hush tones that some influential figures continue putting pressure on the media, especially public media to an extent that journalists are now more loyal to those in power at the expense of the public.

A small media market and general underdevelopment of the economy means that the media has to ally with political forces to get financial support. This has also definitely affected the way the media functions especially when it comes to its watchdog role. This is key in a modern and functioning democracy.

Notwithstanding, the above concerns, the general environment is good for the media to grow and the journalists to freely collect news.

DISABLED BEGGARS KICKED OUT OF THE MALL

2012-03-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

…There is a serious lack of reliable information about the nature and prevalence of disability in Swaziland

It’s exactly two weeks I heard of a saddening story about how security guards in one of the privately owned shopping malls in the country’s cities were instructed to chase away a three notable beggars (disabled beggars) at the mall.
Even though one is yet to confirm this saddening report, but I have been told that three notable faces of two disabled women who can’t stand on their own given feet and a middle aged man who are known to have found a spot to solicit money at the mall have been told not to set the their unable bodies at the mall…What , this is when I screamed ‘Racism’ and if only I had the power to prevent such in the country’s highest courts I would have mobilised the highest paid lawyer to help the Swazi Citizens to defend their presence in the privately owned mall.
Evident to such an inhumane treatment is that I have seen one of the women whom I had developed a very close relationship in the past three months ago sitting under the scorching sun next to the now defunct Metro Cash & Carry trying to recover from the shock of being kicked out of ‘her spot’ on the doorstep of a busy travel agency.
As I walked towards the bus ran I met this middle aged brother who moves around only with the aid of crutches trying to squeeze himself on the narrow pavement at the bridge not very far to the mall.
As I passed next to this brother my heart bled because I have known these people to have been well mannered and even interesting characters who were not aggressive, harassing the shoppers at the mall. I would always see people volunteer and donate whatever they had to the poor souls.
As I tried to gather about their ban from the mall I overheard one transport operator stating that a complaint was raised to the owner of the shopping centre that these humble souls were harassing customers. I didn’t and I don’t want to buy the story because with my over 30 years in the city of Mbabane I have never seen these individuals disturbing shoppers.
My sweet message to whosoever was behind the drive of frustrating these people is that beggars are all over the world and these people are not there to rob anyone but have been forced by the lack of proper and physical structuring of their welfare.
People with disabilities are excluded from the mainstream of society and experience difficulty in accessing fundamental rights. There is, furthermore, a strong relationship between disability and poverty. Poverty makes people more vulnerable to disability and disability reinforces and deepens poverty.
Disability tends to be couched within a medical and welfare framework, identifying people with disabilities as ill, different from their non-disabled peers, and in need of care. Because the emphasis is on the medical needs of people with disabilities, there is a corresponding neglect of their wider social needs. This has resulted in severe isolation for people with disabilities and their families.
To the management of the mall and the country’s legislators they should know that just t because beggars make more affluent people feel uncomfortable, that is no a reason to sweep them off the streets..we are going up the road that Hitler did. he had a final solution to beggars and Romas....do people want that?
Poverty exists, that is a fact. It will always exist. Unless a society is willing to provide a safety net, tackle the causes of poverty and fight the organised gangs that exploit it, then just moving the poverty away from where it is uncomfortable for rich tourists to see it is not solving the problem.
Demonising and marginalising a certain group of the community and moving them out of sight of the mainstream is just the first step on the road that eventually led to genocide in many cases. I do not think pointing this out is trivialising this matter.
Poverty and homelessness exists, sweeping it under the carpet and pretending it doesn't exist by banning it from the country’s shopping malls , presumably because it makes the shoppers uncomfortable, is not one of the solutions.
Following such I feel I need to get back to a story by one of my close friends and ex Philile Masango about one inspiration soul (may he rest in eternal peace) Joshua Simelane who despite his blindness he was determined to overcome the lack of proper structures in the country to take care of all disabled people. He had a dream of seeing the country’s oldest institution of higher learning University of Swaziland providing a Braille facility for the blind. I know most of the those who are able to see the sun rise and set will always laugh it off and add to the statistics of those voting against the respect of fundamental rights of all the country’s citizens.
The right of people with disabilities are protected by the Constitution. Government departments and state bodies have a responsibility to ensure that, in each line function, concrete steps are taken to ensure that people with disabilities are able to access the same fundamental rights and responsibilities as any other Swazi.
The legislative framework is crucial. There is a need to examine the need for new legislation. Existing legislation must be scrutinised and amended where necessary. Ultimately, legislation should comply with and give substance to Constitutional requirements.

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IS DEEPELY ROOTED IN SWAZI CULTURE

2012-03-15T01:14:00.002-07:00

…IS UNLIKELY TO BE REPLACED BY WESTERN INFLUENCED PHARMACIES

I am one person who has been raised in the most common township in the country. Msunduza, skom, ekasi; whichever name you prefer where’ in my early days of primary level seeing a sheeben in the area was like today seeing the restaurant at Gables in Ezulwni. During these days there were a lot of police crackdowns on the sheebens which were operating ‘illegally’ brewing the area’s favourite traditional brew. Such was acceptable in the society but it could not deter the area’s Sheeben Queens from operating their illegal trade and as I write this piece there are a couple who are still operating in the area’s dark city….

Enough of the drunk talk but one should know that I have been prompted to raise this issue because of recent and current continuous arrests of traditional healers under the tag ‘Operation Worthy’ .According to local press reports this is done by local police in a bid to tackle animal parts syndicates.

Apart from the Mbabane Swallows / Black Swallows crazy feat in the soccer filed, I personally feel such an issue has recklessly been handled or police have become overzealous regarding the arrests.

One should not forget that traditional healer have long been here even before the Game Protection Act was inscribed in the country and some of the people who today trample on the traditional healers trade consult some of the traditional healer for ‘magic/ healing potions.

Now that the law enforcers are coming hard on the healers trade one has to wonder is this means that the traditional healing profession which is highly associated with the Swazi Cultural beliefs would be buried and there would be no hope of resurrection.

Personally I am a qualified human Rights Defender having being armed with Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, Rights of the Child and Human Rights Law and thus feel my bitterness at the manner the issue of the healers is being handled by the country’s law enforcers.

Being Swazis we should know that despite being westernized by Capitalism of the world’s heavyweights most Swazis still believe that health, disease, success or misfortune are not chance events but the result of the active influence of individuals or ancestral spirits.

It is for this reason that the country’s citizenry always thrive on holding high esteem on traditional healers are held in high esteem in Swazi Culture and are held in high proportion of the country’s population.

Even though some consult healers secretly due to the modernized and religious values instilled the country’s citizenry but is no hidden fact when the going gets tough most people consult traditional healers to find long lasting solutions of their problems.

Going through the local newspapers advertisements, one’s eyes is always tackled by the increased number of traditional healers adverts which literally shows that the consultancy of traditional healers is alive.

With conservation being used to curb the possession of ‘protected game’ parts , I therefore made my research with emajaha lamadzala from the traditional circles who confirmed with authority that in the past conservation of traditional medicine plants used to be achieved by various customary conservation practices such as taboos, religious controls and seasonal and social restrictions.

For example, menstruating women were not permitted to collect certain species as this would remove the "power" of the plant. Inadvertent restrictions such as the use of inefficient digging sticks to remove bulbs and roots also prevented overexploitation. Traditional healers and their plant gatherers collected enough for their needs and no more.
Many traditional healers, unlike most commercial gatherers, still adhere to traditional conservation practices in modern times. Among plant gatherers, however, the situation is very different and the collecting and selling of medicinal plants has become highly commercial.
I am not sure of how much animal species have been lost due to poaching or traditional healers in search of certain animal species are being used for traditional medicine all those in support of the crackdown they should know that it means that if traditional medicine disappears then primary and assuming that a primary health to a traditionalist would be compromised and thus would be substituted with western medicines which would definitely bring a negative spat on the true Swazi Culture which has contributed immensely on luring tourists into the country.

NOTHING GOATY FOR MISS SD FIRST PRINCESS

2011-12-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

BLAH! BLAH! OLD MCDONALD HAD A GOAT, E;I;O;

…I once said it that the organisers of beauty pageants in Swaziland are all about filling their little known CVs with a not so needed publicity

In response to the Honourable Ngwempisi Member of Parliament Veli who came to the rescue of the ‘now –not –so –important ‘ Miss Swaziland pageant and sponsored it with a goat , I feel this matter just needs to be slaughtered with the goat because if this was gift to the First Princess ( I understand) and if it was meant to be the prize for the pageant then I would like to know the person who decided to list it as a prize and I would personally drive him/her to the nearest dipping tank show him /her where livestock cleanse themselves from unhealthy disorder.

I just wish the princess would have been my relative or have been close to yours truly and I would have read the riot act over this insult. I don’t think even the organisers know that a beauty pageant or contest is a competition that would focus mainly on the physical beauty of its contests and such then is incorporated with personality , talent and answers questions whose scores would be marked by an equally competent panel of judges.

With the current state of Miss Swaziland prizes yours truly being a blogger, writer, Swazi by birth has an obligation to point my 9mm pen to the pageant organisers with just one bullet and explain to them that winners of Miss Swaziland Pageant are called ‘beauty queens’ and thus the ordinary prize of a beauty queen would be tiara, sash , a savings bond or a cash prize would have been an honour for the First Princess Nosipho Mkhwanazi.

Trust I wouldn’t have responded to this but I was shocked to hear that Miss Swaziland was presented with a car (don’t worry about the model) then do we expect the First to also ‘ride’ on the goat when doing her charity projects. Maybe if we would have given her E500 worth of unit Trust from Stanlib or Africa Alliance then it was going to be understood.

For the last time may the organisers of any beauty pageant please do justice to themselves and please stop humiliating the girls. We have seen in the past some of the girls being dethroned after successfully beaten the whole chuff, others have suffered humiliation after the lack of mentoring.

I just wonder now that we have the beauty queen if they do have a monitoring mechanism and mentoring for queens and be protected from these vultures who are always hell bend to entice the country’s models and shame them with expensive gifts then dump them like used condoms once they reach their sell-by-date.

In a nutshell let me encourage the Miss Swaziland at least beef up its marketing department and convince sponsors to sponsor the pageant. There is no sponsor who would want to be associated with a disorganised event in the first place. By having the honourable MP sponsoring with a goat it shows that a lot of people out there are willing to be associated with the country’s beauty.

For those within the executive who refuse to research should see Miss South Africa 2010 had been pampered with the following:

Avis Car Hire – always makes sure that she is mobile when she's away from home.

Barloworld Motor Retail provided her with a car of her dreams.

Blackberry keeps her in touch with the rest of the world.

Brasilfit South Africa provides an exclusive range of Brasilfit activewear throughout her reign so that she can work-out in style.

Camelot Spa keeps her looking - and feeling - great.

Europa Art Shoes makes sure she steps out in fabulously fashionable footwear.

Exclusive Dry Cleaners celebrates 20 years of providing specialised dry-cleaning services to Miss South Africa.

Gary Rom Hairdressing - hair stylists to the stars - ensure she looks glamorous at all times.

IMAN Cosmetics ensures that Miss SA looks the epitome of beauty and glamour at all times.

Cameroon Clothing provides Miss SA with a fabulous wardrobe to look glamorous for every occasion.

Jet Set Watches will not only give her a designer diamond watch, but also a luxurious trip to Paris, France.

L’Oreal Professionnel, and Mizani makes sure her hair has body, bounce and shine, leaving it in superior condition

Lux Limousines allows her to arrive in style.

Professional Impressions ensures that Miss SA's image, etiquette and personal brand is of the highest standard

Pure Motion Studios provide private Pilates sessions including a fitness training programme designed by Pure Motion Studios, and other holistic wellbeing offerings to keep Miss South Africa fit, toned, relaxed and healthy.

Sun International Dreams - Dreams will whisk her away on a dream holiday to Sun International'sRoyal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia.

Varsity College provides her and a charity of her choice with educational bursaries

LET RICH WOMEN GO WITH RICH MEN

2011-11-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

…So they can equally share their wealth rather than on these carrot showcasing poor males, who feature in the hall of fame through sports, booze and being messengers of rich older women .

I might have been called a fool, useless, clueless of how to make money…but nigga please ‘ I don’t need a rich woman in my life’.

I mean as I walked the strides of my life I happened to date the different types of women, slender, thin, chubby, fatty, rich , poor, educated, famous or whatever but out of all these groups the one I wish to remember quickly to forget dating a wealthy African woman.

I know some guys in the Kingdom of Eswatini have directly benefited from sleeping with successful Swazi women …I mean straight from a soccer field shooting through the stars to boardroom while others enjoyed driving the most expensive vehicles while others like yours truly we would be seen in wild smiles chauffeured on the high profiled wheels.

Just sit back and think again , what good does it bring to enjoy the other person’s wealth when deep inside you don’t love that person but you enjoy ‘stealing’ the loot from the woman’s empire and abusing it on vulnerable young schoolgirls and models in our society….I wouldn’t want to inflict any hatred to those who are still abusing rich women’s wealth because they might feel it’s because I failed to steal the millions at my disposal. Ya to me it wasn’t the money cause maybe that rich person never spread her legs stashed with E10 000 for yours truly to penetrate and go out and abuse the money in the my dusty township Msunduza. It was a relationship which building but due to reasons best known to me I decided to jump the ship…

However its not about my life experience in the glittering hands of a rich woman its congratulating the steps local women have taken in closing down the gap between a successful young man and women.

I mean most of local women by mere looking are doing good with life ( apart the ones still Gold Digging at this day and age) . It should not be a hidden that Swazi Women seem to be now earning E1.10 of the E1.00 my fellow brothers are earning and they seem to make a higher percentage of the current labour force in Swaziland. Is it because my fellow brothers have stolen money from the companies they work for, retrenched or battling with the consequences of sleeping around at the Mbabane Government Hospital? I just wonder….

I always love sending accolades where its due and it is the reason I express my congratulations to all the women who are now earning more than most of us, however I think it is wise for me to focus on wealth than the income because one’s income only tell part of the story…

I alsways read from Forbes and other financial publications that wealth embodies the total economic resources available to its holder, more accurately indicates overall financial status. It is no hidden fact that wealth can provide a financial cushion in times of distress, decrease the holder’s dependence on employment, and generate opportunities for social and political influence. In fact in this day and age the gender wealth disparity has been on the rise since 1998 despite the recent decline in the income gap.

I am not a statistician but judging from the type of people in the country’s much more decent drinking holes the buying power is much imbalanced where most men when requested for beer would always point a finger to the woman by side. ‘Ngiyinike lomake’ and that is what he would tell a ‘broke’ brother instead of telling the truth that he fears that he would touch his few Emalangeni in his pockets because they would expose him that he has little than his woman.

It is for this reason I am not a fan of people marrying others because of finances because wealth does not solve problems of bedroom aerobics. In the past I noticed that a number of women often became economically dependent on their husbands and had less control over shared finances. This led to them being abused sexually or otherwise.

It is not hidden fact that most men in the Kingdom of Swaziland manage their finances with ‘stupid’ mindset which that some tasks are suited only for the masculine species while on the other side of the coin it seem like the success of Swazi women before marriage often impact their relative power in the marriage.

Like I highlighted on my intro these disadvantages can be difficult to quantify, as marital wealth is often considered equally shared among spouses. I wouldn’t want to sound like am on the feminine side of sliding but it is no hidden fact that women tend to outlive their husbands, and they experience more negative financial consequences from divorce than men. Half of all households are non-married, half of all marriages end in divorce, and women now spend more of their lives single than married.

Motherhood is another primary cause of the gender wealth gap. Women are more likely to shoulder the financial burden of single parenthood, and in dual-earning couples, mothers are more likely to have primary caregiving responsibility.

With all the glory goes to our better halves then my fellow brothers should also think of caring about decreasing the gap between the wealth in the household wellbeing of our sweethearts in their lives, but because they should no longer bear the sole burden of providing financially for the house.

SOMEONE HAS ROBBED ME MY AIRTIME

2011-11-17T07:29:00.000-08:00

AIRTIME TAXATION: Inyandzaleyo economic Hitmen on the loose

At exactly 0140 hours according to local time , am still awake…I don’t feel like sleeping because when I tried a few hours ago I was woken by a strange dream where some neatly dressed corporate head announced taxation tariffs on my cellular phone.

Does such mean that I am having full ownership of my cellular phone gadget? So this means that there would be a direct reduction in comments such as “Ngelwami lolucingo ngiko ngingakalibambi” from all trying to get away from constant eardrum bursting questions filled with lust. To me this taxation of airtime is none other than being leased talk time by the State when it should be its obligation to ensure that its citizens benefit from their right to development as enshrined in the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The country is still swimming in the filth filled economic chaos despite the assurance made by the Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole (Do I still trust this man?) that civil servants will be able to receive their merge salaries for the next four months. It is not a hidden joke , Swaziland is experience a mudslide of cash. All thanks should be forwarded to whosoever from the country’s financial institutions who has made an effort to borrow a ‘broke female friend’ money to pay her servants. I know our country’s democracy is yet to be defined but it has been unfair from tinini telive to showcase a silence protocol while we have been screaming for help.

While government is trying so hard to wake up from the honeymoon of enriching tenderprenuers is also battling with silencing the ever increasing number of protesters in the country’s streets and this has proven to yors truly that these so called tinini are no good they are just concerned about their capitalist investments in the country and will be changing base in the next few days.

In the last two years , no would have thought the situation would be this bad , maybe we would have long tried to make efforts of implications political recommendations made by locals and international observers. Once again I would like to thank the local institutions for the bail out but on the other hand I would like to warn the Minister of Finance that John Perkins has always stated in his writings that bailouts serve the creditors while they enslave the debtors.

Although protesters swarm the streets of Mbabane, supporting to the draconian measures being imposed by the IMF and it seems like the country's leadership is crumbling; We have to bow down to IMF demands and then accept the bailouts. Identically to the recently announced financial bailouts by local financial institutions Perkins in his writings is of the view that “it has become evident that bailouts in our own U.S. crisis have only benefited the corporatocracy, with CEO's paying themselves outrageous bonuses. This method of borrowing against the well-being of a country's citizens merely serves to increase the power of the central banks, the IMF and corporate CEOs.In my books, I write about how world economics and politics today are controlled by a very few people -- the corporatocracy. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that whenever "debt restructuring" or "debt forgiveness" deals are struck they include privatizing parts of the economy that were previously considered public. Utilities, schools, prisons, even significant parts of the military are sold to multinational corps. Those who demand smaller government, are -- knowingly or not -- supporting a new brand of corporate imperialism.

My heart is bleeding because very soon we should not be surprised to see our government being controlled or influenced by the corporate sector which literally in the next elections in 2013 we will be voting for those with fat wallets instead of those who will make laws which will benefit the ordinary Swazi from Somntongo. Without inciting any Swazi citizen to any uprising we must just reject robbers from the corporate sector.

Before I finish this piece I have stumbled over this heartbreaking news that it is proposed that we will now be taked for our mobile phone usage…I understand that this is not only in Swaziland but a total of 11 countries in the world tax mobile phone usages in addition to general sales taxes. We understand that with MTN Swaziland’s monopoly thay have tried to instill economic growth following their healthy mobile business to the vulnerable ordinary Swazi. After failed to qualify for an economics degree in the Institution of Higher learning in my country I wonder with the eleven years into the game have they boosted the country’s gross domestic product…

If government proceeds with this taxation let us hope that MTN and SPTC mobile services will be less affordable and should cut associated impact of mobile phones and mobile broadband services. Recently a study was conducted in 21 coountires which included 12 in sub Saharan Africa discovered that consumers in Turkey continue to pay the most airtime tax at 43 % , followed by the Gabonese Republic at 36% , Pakistan at 31%, Uganda at 30%, Croatia at 29% and the Democratic Republic of Congo at 28%.

Many governments tax mobile services as a luxury and it has been proven that airtime taxes represent a large proportion of the total level of taxation and represent a barrier to development of services by reducing usage , especially in developing countries like Swaziland where consumers have lower income levels and are highly price sensitive. We should be surprised when these taxes are added to retail prices , raising the cost of mobile services and contributing to a reduction in their consumption.

"This study has found that taxes on buying handsets are notably proportionatly higher than taxes on usage of mobile services in developing markets, leading to unbalanced taxation profiles for mobile-related services. Higher handset taxes increase the retail price which limits access to mobile services in developing markets where consumers are particularly price sensitive. Tax cuts in this area have the potential to significantly boost access to mobile services and their consumption," said Chris Williams, Deloitte Telecoms partner.

DO WE STILL NEED THESE CALL BOXES…..Or solo kuyadliwa

2011-11-12T14:22:00.001-08:00

This writing is not targeted to any institution or individual but it is my concern over the fast growing market of cellphones in our slowly financially drained Kingdom of Swaziland . This has resulted to the lesser and lesser numbers of people in Swaziland using public pay phones which call ‘coin or call boxes’.

I mean in the urban populace I have noted that out four people fully grown adult are always be in possession ( despite considering if it has call credit or not) and since I finished my high school over a decade ago there is an evident t impact cellphones had on the business which had been solely operated by the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications company in Swaziland.

This business is the one some indivuduals abused to empower their friends with huge tenders in the supply, maintenance and installation of landline phones. I would like to thank MTN (even though it is enjoying unfair advantange of monopoly in the cellular phone business) for coming up at the time we were complaing of malfunctioning or poorly serviced coin boxes and landlines.

It is after the arrival of MTN that a number of Swazis divorced the hard wired phones and fell in love with their Nokia, Alcatels, Orange , Samsungs which has not only connected them to the world but has brought a lot of domestic wars in the love circles.

I have noted that in a week I hardly see a soul making a call in a coin box due to the the now readily available means of communication and a majority of the communication options available in this world are utilised via the cell phone.

Therefore, in many ways, the decline of landline phones and the rise in cell phone use does not simply mark a shift between one type of phone to another. The decline of the landline is also a reflection of how individuals have changed in our preferred means of communication.

We as a culture have embraced new technologies, alternative ways of contacting each other, and even new ways of being marketed to by companies.

The public has become more open to being contacted on their cell phone by mobile/web marketing companies.

There is evidence that the decline of landline phone usage can also be attributed to the current economy. As an increasing number of people started using cell phones, households continued to pay for landlines because they were used to having them. With the decline of the job market, many households have had to choose between a landline and a cell phone. Because the cell phone can be used almost anywhere, is frequently more expensive than a landline, and cell phones have other features such as internet access, the cell phone becomes the obvious choice. The cellphone innovation has led me to wonder why the Swaziland Posts and Communications does not reduce the coin boxes around the country as to minimise its costs of maintenance on unused gadgets or somebody is blessed with a lifetime money spinning venture on unused gadgets…Then government should intervene

JUST WANNA HIT & RUN

2011-11-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

Has anyone today thought of the effects of the game of hide and seek sultry moment with your unknown hit you had last night. Fine it is so fulfilling to you that last night you had a firecracker of sexuality: short , explosive easy find from your drinking hole.

Being a person who has seen and experienced a lot on such I know most one night stands in the Kingdom of Swaziland revolve around non attachment but with continuous sexual encounters between the two of you the connection becomes more physical.

In comparison a lot of women try by all means to have their apartments nicer than those of men which most of the time of night out it's the most appropriate venue for the hit & run.

These things you find that they happen when one has not planned so one wouldn’t want his dirty socks and unwashed sheets make your place look like the aftermath UNISWA students protest march. It is just funny because most men in Swaziland wouldn’t want to ruin the encounter with these smelly forces of their apartment.

It is also noteworthy that most women’s apartments give most men room to fly if things head south (labashukela).

Like it has happened in the past an accidental slip of her ex-boyfriend’s name ruins the mood quickly and it would the best moment to fly out of her apartment. It is no hidden fact that everytime you are in a woman’s room an exit plan is always at the back of our minds in case I have to abandon lomkhumbi.It is no hidden fact that leaving is always easier than getting her to leave. Umkhandza sekawashe lelibhuluko lefike aligcokile.

I have always imagined that most one night stands ;she does not know you; everything is physical-no prior knowledge and no strings attached (except for one, potentially).

Mhm! Was thinking just the other day of when do one think of his own safety in this regard because it is no hidden fact that these one nighters bring less needed risks and imagine leaving he apartment with an unwanted souvenir of syphilis….

Vele ! asiticabangeli some of the people reading last night drilled without any hardware…then what? Fatal results….rather be safe than sorry
There is one stupid mentality most of my peers (not excluded wholly) have is that a one night stand inflate our egos

PROTESTERS ARE NOT GOVERNANCE ENEMIES

2011-11-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

WE ARE VULNARABLE TO TERRORISM

With the wake of the number of protest marches engulfing the country , being a patronic laid back Swazi I feel everyone in authority should understand that the civil society is the enemy of the State. From their submissions and demands it shows that just like any nation be it Libya or Syria they are just protesting to intolerance , fanaticism, corruption, cupidity and lack of understanding in the calls for democratic reform.

It is for that reason that I feel that their continued marches in the country streets and chant of political slogans is no value to an inconsiderate individual who only prindes clinging onto power and forced respect.

It is not a hidden fact that a majority in the streets protesting are educated and their contribution in the call for political reform is dismally inadequate considering the enormous challenges that the threat of terror poses as they thrive towards a nonviolent future. If I would borrow from Hastings 2003,159 ; a true democracy requires critical consciousness: the compassionate and considered participation of all citizens .

The current culture of curbing protests is just one sweet strategy of fuelling terrorism because some those in opposition of the current state of affairs in the country are paralysed by fear and are currently feeling powerless to bring change in our tiny Kingdom Swaziland.

It has been evident that the use of stunt grenades is an effective tool used by the country’s security forces to instil fear to anyway attempting to call for change. It is for this reason that I personally these fear inducing tactics are warning everyone of the impending crisis and doom at the hands of those in the past had terrorism architecture on public buildings and politicians.

I wouldn’t want to lie that during my days as a journalist , I was very delighted to receive a scoop on a terror attack at the country’s National Courts because it brought myself as a journalist on the spotlight of reporting about a rare occurrence in the country. So what good does it bring to the country? I bet with you such acts impact directly on the ordinary Swazi because he/she has to dig down and pay taxes to rebuild the attacked structures, while at the same time the Government would bee forced to buy ‘coolest’ weapons to counter terrorism thus increasing the country’s annual budget on our ailing economy.

With the current situation of not listening to the protesters the country will be vulnerable to terrorism which will face through political opportunists current dreaming of overthrowing the current regime.

I am just one hate fan of terrorism because it is a manifestation of the culture of war and injustice that pervades most societies and nations. It is high time while government is closely monitoring the current political situation to acknowledge deconstructing , disarming and countering the myths surrounding this culture of violence and preparing civil society to respond to any kind of threat with clear , informed vision and some kind of systemic analysis that favours nonviolence.

I may just sing my own lovely tune of calling the country’s authorities to set out governing principles which would emphasize humanization and connection; realise democratic family and social structures which support gender, equality and engage all members of civil society; result in low level violence and abuse ;and nurture the environment which global civil society shares.

It is now time through the Human Rights structures within government make education a pivotal role in creating hope and a vision. The country is desperately in need to develop in civil society a peace –oriented perspective that would tackle terror by human intelligence. I therefore call for peace education in all its complexity to develop that intelligence and expose the inter-connectedness of the multiple kinds of violence.

Let us just do away with the notion that those calling for change are ‘enemies’ of the system , we must embrace and engage them, and understand the motivations for their actions. Government should just take responsibility for the nation’s complicity in and contribution to the way the country has been run.

Swazis let us do whatever it takes to discover the power within us to create a country in which all forms of violence , including the terror perpetrated by some forces within our security structures while maintaining Law and Order

AS I PASSED THROUGH YOUR AREA-This what i saw

2011-10-27T09:36:00.001-07:00

BAYETHE-"LET THE BALL ROLL IN SENATE"

2011-10-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

LOBAMBA- His Majesty King Mswati III reportedly ‘commanded’ Parliament to focus on Bills.

Yesterday Senate had an unusual sitting as it is common knowledge that it does not normally do business on Tuesdays as it is a day in which Cabinet sits. Senate President, Gelane Zwane, described yesterday as special.

In an interview she said the King had ordered that all laws with a potential of saving the economy be prioritised and be dealt with prior to His Majesty going into seclusion anytime now.

"The King said all these laws must be done so that he signs them before going into seclusion. These same laws will determine what the Appropriation Bill will look like when we budget next year. The King said all laws that would help government generate revenue must be passed in preparation for the budget," she said.

Prior to the interview, inside chambers, she came down hard on Cabinet for apparently disregarding the royal command.

Zwane who is also KoNtshingila acting Chief was infuriated by the absence of some ministers yet they were quite aware that they were instructed to drop everything else.

Only the Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku and Finance Minister Majozi Sithole were present at the start of the session.

The president accused Cabinet of practising double standards after allegedly rushing to tell the King that everything was at a standstill as no laws were being passed in Parliament.

A week ago the prime minister lamented that parliamentarians were seemingly snubbing enacting laws but spent much time moving motions yet it is not their core business.

"I do not understand the absence of ministers. I know it is Tuesday but this is a very special one. Everything comes to a standstill, everything. This is a command. I am surprised. I object to this very strongly," she said.

Even an explanation from Masuku that the ministers were on their way from other commitments did not appease her.

She said ministers did not waste any time but dropped everything to attend a sitting in the other chamber under the same command.

The president said it is apparent that Senate is looked down upon.

"Your explanation does not hold water, not at all. There is no justification. You even emphasised that it was a command. You had no decency to come to the office of the president to explain yourself. Then I would have understood not to come and find empty seats, especially when most of you (Cabinet) are senators," she said.

Zwane added, "You are supposed to report to me. You are still senators."

She said she has an oversight role to play over senators serving in Cabinet.

(Extract taken from www.times.co.sz)

HAPPY DAYZ EKASI

2011-10-24T04:38:00.000-07:00

IINTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT -STILL SEEKS THE ARREST OF OMAR Al bASHIR

2011-10-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

Pre-Trial Chamber I requests observations from Malawi on the enforcement of warrants of arrest against Omar Al Bashir

ICC-CPI-20111019-PR733

Case: The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir
Situation: Darfur, Sudan

On 19 October 2011, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a decision requesting the Republic of Malawi to submit, no later than 11 November 2011, any observations with regard to the alleged failure by the Republic of Malawi to comply with the cooperation requests issued by the Court for the arrest and surrender of the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir.

The Chamber was seized on an ICC Registry’s report indicating that various media had reported that Omar Al Bashir had visited the Republic of Malawi on 14 October 2011, and highlighting the Registrar had sent a note verbale, that remained unanswered, to the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi in Brussels on 13 October 2011, reminding the Republic of Malawi of its legal obligations as a State Party to the Rome Statute and asking for its cooperation for the arrest and surrender of Mr Al Bashir "in the event that the latter would enter Malawi's territory".

The Chamber also noted article 87(7) of the Statute providing that "[w]here a State Party fails to comply with a request to cooperate by the Court contrary to the provisions of this Statute [...] the Court may make a finding to that effect and refer the matter to the Assembly of States Parties or, where the Security Council referred the matter to the Court, to the Security Council".

On 27 August 2010 and on 12 May 2011, Pre-Trial Chamber I had issued three decisions informing the Security Council of the United Nations and the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute about Omar Al Bashir’s visits to the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Chad and to Djibouti, ‘in order for them to take any measure they may deem appropriate’. On 25 October 2010 and on 1 December 2010, the Judges had also issued two decisions requesting the Republic of Kenya and the Central African Republic to inform the Chamber about any problem which would impede or prevent the arrest and surrender of Omar Al Bashir in the event that he visits these countries.

On 4 March, 2009, Pre-Trial Chamber I issued a first warrant of arrest against Mr Al Bashir, considering that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the suspect was criminally responsible for five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes. A second warrant of arrest was issued against Mr Al Bashir on 12 July, 2010, for three counts of genocide.

MALEMA’S MOUTH SPEWS THE HATE OF CURRY POWDER

2011-10-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

ANC Youth League president Julius Malema might be in more trouble for using a racial slur against Indians during a speech to residents at the Thembelihle township, south of Johannesburg.

He used the slur while addressing about 600 black residents near Lenasia, a predominately Indian community.

"Bana ba lena ba tshwanetse ba dumelelwe gore ba tsene sekolo lebana ba makula mona [your children must be allowed to go to school with amaKula's [derogatory word for Indians] children."

The word amaKula is considered an offensive racial slur in South Africa and is on par with other offensive names the Human Rights Commission has ruled against.

Malema visited the community as part of his drive to garner support ahead of the youth league's economic freedom march next Thursday.

ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said Malema's comments, if found to be true, would be handled by the ruling party's leadership.

"It would be difficult for me to say anything when I have just heard it, but I am sure that if the matter has indeed been said, then it should be raised with the leadership of the ANC and the youth league.

"The ANC discourages the use of such words," Khoza said.

Malema is currently facing a disciplinary hearing for bringing the ANC into disrepute.

The hearing continues next week in the south of Johannesburg.

Yesterday, Malema told residents that they were being robbed of their dignity by being denied basic services such as water and lights.

Malema will lead the youth league's Economic Freedom Youth Mass Action next week, which will target the Chamber of Mines, JSE in Sandton, Johannesburg, and at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where a night vigil is planned.

He told residents to march to the Union Buildings using the M1 free way.

"We need to tell the government that we want to be treated with respect.

"We need to bring back the dignity of black people, especially Africans," Malema said.

Thembelihle residents have in the past months taken to the streets complaining about a lack of basic services.

Another service delivery protest in the area turned violent last month.

Malema told the community that they deserved respect.

"No person should live without a properly built house.

"There is no person who must live without electricity, water.

"You must be respected. You must not be treated like you are monkeys," Malema said.

He also said that, despite voting during national elections, the residents of Thembelihle were still not liberated as they continued to live in distress.

(Taken from Times daily; www.times.co.za

SWAZILAND SEX TRADE NOT THAT BAD…BUT ITS HAPPENING

2011-10-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

I know I might be touching human dung on this one…I mean some people after reading the headline will have misconceptions about the life of yours truly…F@@#$#$ it I am living in this world and I am human just like anybody else, I just love to write (whatever).

With this one I still remember my days as a journalist practising under the leadership of the ever versatile Thulani Thwala who now is mentoring at the Swazi Observer publication where set out our diary and together with the department’s driver I was to do a story on the challenges faced by commercial sex workers (affectionately known as labatsengisako in local circles).

My mission kicked off on a month end (even though I still cant remember the day) but it was around 2100 and we were to start our mission from the office at the bumpy Gillian Road to a park which is below the Ministry of Agriculture where most of the ‘girls of the night’ traded before being noticed by the country’s law enforcers.

Upon arrival we were met by mini skirts which were so short that one would have been tempted abandon the mission of interviewing the girls and pay them with the mere E30 night out allowance but because ethics rang at the back of my intelligent skull I kicked away the temptation.

Upon noticing our vehicle the ladies decided to disappear in the nearby bushy area and refused to entertain us as they were afraid of being photographed and end up being positively identfied in the then highest selling newspaper in the country.

Ok, missed it…I then instructed the driver to quickly drive to another sport which is less than 500 metres from the Ministry of Agriculture spot and went to Kalafata , I introduced myself as a willing buyer and four of the girls (different sizes and shapes) stood in a straight line all of them pleading with yours truly to take one of them and they were quick to advertise their services and body piercings while at the same time willing to reduce the E50 session price if I am willing to take them for the whole night.

I looked back at my driver and he smiled cause he knew our mission. I then pointed at one who was wearing a blue hooded jacket and a short skirt. Though she was not the most attractive of them all but was the quiet of them all. She was carrying a plastic bag seemingly it was her wardrobe and inside I saw a novel.

She was first reluctant to go with us but I convinced him that this was my driver and after a 30 minutes of arguing she then obliged. We then drove to the city’s park (which is dark at night) and it there I introduced myself as a reporter from the Swazi News.

She was so shocked that she stated that she does not want her time to wasted because she was planning to make at least E300 during the ‘lousy night’. I then made a pledge that whatever we would discuss I will not reveal her identity but will pay her the E50 she requires.

Before she started she sobbed and explained that she was from Lomahasha and has no relative, job but has two children aged four and two whose fathers she does not remember because every time she had sex she had to be intoxicated.

“After conceiving my second child I decided to quit drinking and smoking and it is my second year I decided to quit. However I am still selling my body because I have to feed my two boys who I have locked in my one roomed flat in Magwaneni”, she told yours truly in a sombre tone.

She further told yours truly that her highest level of education was the Universty of Swaziland First year where she did Diploma in Law but dropped out after failing due to the fact that no one was to pay for her university fees.

“I come here not because I am enjoying it but because I need to get food for my children who do not know I am selling my body but think I am a security guard. Please don’t go and make fun of what I am doing in the newspapers, I will kill myself,” she added.

This turned out to be an emotional revelation than my intended story of “Who are the most frequenting clients” as she went on to reveal that girls as young as 14 years from neighbouring townships are part of the trade and are most of the time subjected to physical abuse by drunk inconsiderate males.

“Another stumbling element in our trade are the night patrol officers who have become a menace to us. They chase us away from the road or at times take us to the police station and detain us. It is so unfortunate that they are also humans and you find that they are some distant relatives to some of us and they know our plight,”

Due to my inquisitive mindset I questioned her if she enjoyed the sessions she offered to her clients but she was quick to mention that she hated sex.

“Some of us don’t have anywhere to sleep unless they find a man to sleep with them for the whole night and all those willing not to use a condom they pay more,” she said.

This story struck me deeply and it for this reason I still remember it like yesterday, soon after the interview she requested that I do not write about what she told me but offered to give me a story that they were now increasing their prices from E50 to E80 due to the rise in food prices in the country.

I then told my driver that we had finished with the lady thus we had to take her back to her spot. Though it is unethical , I then paid her E50 for the interview because she would have missed a client because of the interview.

We then drove back to the newsroom and explained the story to my editor and he understood the situation and the next edition was splashed with another hot selling headline which ran “Commercial sex fees up by 60%”…

GADDAFI’S ORBITUARY AS SHOWN BY WESTERN MEDIA

2011-10-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, leader of Libya from 1969 to 2011, has been killed after an assault on his home town of Sirte, officials from the country's transitional authority have said.

Ian Jones assesses a ruler who raged against the rest of the world but who was brought down by his own people.

Colonel Gaddafi ended his life branded with the same words that had followed him through most of his military and political career: thug, terrorist, and murderer.

During the tumultuous days in late August 2011 when rebel forces saw their six-month campaign to topple Gaddafi reach a bloody yet successful conclusion on the streets of Tripoli, the Libyan leader was called "a criminal" by President Sarkozy of France; "a dictator" by David Cameron, the UK prime minister; and "a tyrant" by Barack Obama, the US president.

Yet the former soldier, who ruled Libya from 1969 to 2011 and who became the longest-serving Arab leader for over 100 years, was not always viewed with such universal disdain.

In March 2004, Tony Blair, the UK prime minister at the time, visited Colonel Gaddafi in Tripoli. Mr Blair praised Gaddafi for his desire to form "common cause with us against al-Qaeda, extremists and terrorism," and for the Libyan leader's recent renunciation of weapons of mass destruction.

Two years later the country was removed from the United States' list of countries sponsoring terrorism, on the approval of President George W Bush. And as late as June 2009, Mr Blair's successor as prime minister, Gordon Brown, socialised with Gaddafi during a G8 summit in Italy, speaking of his "admiration and gratitude" for the colonel's "brave" decision over his weapons programme.

Such niceties were quickly and quietly forgotten when, in February 2011, Gaddafi's regime began a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. Within weeks the United Nations had authorised a no-fly zone over the country and passed a resolution allowing "all necessary measures" to be taken to protect Libyan civilians. The first strikes by US, French and British warplanes on pro-Gaddafi forces took place on 19 March.

However throughout his life, whether playing the part of friend or foe, ally or enemy, Colonel Gaddafi consistently relied upon one towering attribute, which had first won him power and then enabled him to retain it for so many decades: his personality.

The road to revolution

Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi was born in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte in June 1942 to a family belonging to a small Arab tribe, the Qadhadhfa. He was raised in a bedouin tent in the nearby desert, before attending a Muslim elementary school and receiving secondary school education from a private tutor in Misrata.

He had displayed a keen interest in history and politics from an early age, and it was in Misrata that a brash and vocal anti-Israeli, anti-western outlook, one that would become a trademark characteristic, first took root. Keen to express such sentiments in actions as well as arguments, Gaddafi joined the Libyan military academy at Benghazi in 1961, graduating four years later.

While at military college, Gaddafi's radical politics and martial tendencies fused into a desire to help ferment, if not lead, an Arab revolution in Libya. He was deeply inspired by the strident nationalism of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. The forcefulness of Gaddafi's now potent personality was an inspiration to his fellow students. Together they began plotting to overthrow the Libyan monarchy.

The plan was put into action on 1 September 1969 - and it was a complete success. A small group of junior officers, led by Gaddafi (aged just 27), staged a bloodless coup while the king was in Turkey for medical treatment. The monarchy was abolished and the country was proclaimed the Libyan Arab Republic.

So began Gaddafi's 42 years in charge of the fourth largest country in Africa, and the 17th largest country in the world.

A new Libya

Intolerance and brutality were present from the outset. Libya's entire Italian population, a legacy from colonial times, was expelled; political dissent was made illegal; and all forms of Christianity, including the calendar, were either abolished or replaced (the year of the coup, 1969, being formally retitled 1389, dated from the birth of the prophet Muhammad).

In 1977 the country was rebranded the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the last word being commonly translated as "state of the masses". Yet Libya was anything but a socialist paradise. Citizens were encouraged to spy on and shop each other. Up to one in five Libyans worked as informants. The press was censored. State-sponsored assassination became common, both internally and externally, with "hit squads" being deployed to murder Libyan dissidents living abroad. As recently as 2004, Gaddafi offered a million dollars for the death of Ashur Shamis, a journalist who had been living in Britain since the 1960s.

Such repressive machinery was kept in place by multiple layers of security forces in thrall to Gaddafi's now fully developed cult of personality. Identified formally as "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution", his image was reproduced everywhere: on posters, statues and flags, on stamps and currency, in textbooks and newspapers, and on the state television network. Gaddafi's philosophy - an autocratic mix of capitalism and communism - was promoted and popularised in The Green Book, first published in 1975 and required reading for all schoolchildren.

Yet he did bring prosperity to much of his country, if not all of his people. With the 10th largest oil reserves on the planet at his disposal, Gaddafi's Libya had the potential to become very rich very quickly.

Some areas of Libya saw immense investment. Gaddafi's principles were flexible enough to welcome many workers and industrialists from western nations, so long as they brought expertise that could benefit his country's infrastructure. Millions were spent over a period of almost 25 years in building a spectacular trans-Sahara water pipeline, named the Great Man-Made River project, in order to end water shortages among areas of rising population. And the CIA's World Factbook of 2009 showed the average life expectancy of a Libyan to be 77 years: only one year less than that of an American citizen, a statistic atypical for the African continent.

But areas away from oil-fields and the rich coastal towns were scarred by long-term unemployment. And from the mid-70s onwards it was increasingly the case that much of the country's income from oil was spent on purchasing arms and sponsoring dozens of paramilitary and terrorist groups around the world, including the IRA.

It was this activity that began to bring Gaddafi into repeated clashes with other countries, particularly those of the west.

Sponsor of terrorism

In 1976 Gaddafi bragged openly of his links with the IRA, and talked of "the bombs of Libyan people" exploding on British streets. Relations between the UK and Libya deteriorated. Worse was to come in 1984, when Libyan diplomats inside the country's embassy in London fired on demonstrators outside. A British policewoman, Yvonne Fletcher, was killed. Diplomatic relations were broken off; WPC Fletcher's killer has never been identified.

In 1986 the US bombed Libya in retaliation for the planting of a bomb at a nightclub in West Berlin that killed three and injured 229. Air strikes were launched from US bases in the UK, prompting Gaddafi to step up his financing of the IRA. Then in December 1988, a plane flying from London to New York was blown up over the village of Lockerbie in the south-west of Scotland. A total of 270 people were killed, including all 259 people on board.

Two Libyan agents were later indicted for the crime, and it was Gaddafi's decision to hand over the suspects to a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands that led to the United Nations suspending sanctions against Libya in 2001.

So began the period of reconciliation between Libya and the west. Gaddafi's motives were, once again, shaped by his personality. He passed intelligence on Islamic extremists to MI6 and the CIA, as much out of a fear for his own life and status (he was nearly assassinated in 1996) as on moral grounds.

Within days of Saddam Hussein being overthrown in 2003, Gaddafi outed himself as an owner of weapons of mass destruction, stealing a march on his critics and winning plaudits from unlikely sources. Tony Blair was soon beating a path to Gaddafi's tent. In June 2010, Gaddafi sat just two places away from President Obama at a dinner at the G8 summit in Rome.

Uprising and downfall

All these gestures of rapprochement came to an abrupt, violent halt in February 2011.

Inspired by anti-government protests across the Middle East and north Africa, pro-democracy demonstrators staged uprisings in towns and cities across Libya. Within days, rebel forces had seized control of Benghazi, the country's second city.

A civil war began as troops loyal to Gaddafi fought back, initially very successfully, until Nato air strikes enabled the rebels to counterattack and begin a slow but steady advance towards Tripoli. For his actions in waging war on his own people, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Gaddafi on the grounds of crimes against humanity.

Gaddafi remained defiant to the last. Early in the campaign he vowed "we will fight until the last man and last woman to defend Libya". He stayed in Tripoli even when it was clear the city was about to fall to rebel forces. After fleeing his compound on 23 August, he broadcast a message pledging "martyrdom or victory". The same force of personality and self-belief that had propelled him to power and then helped him maintain rule for over four decades was evident in his final words.

Gaddafi was killed after an assault on his home town of Sirte on 20 October 2011. He reportedly died from wounds in his head and legs. It was unclear whether he was hit in a Nato air strike on a convoy fleeing Sirte, a firefight on the ground, or in concrete tunnels within the town itself.

Muammar Gaddafi was married twice, and had eight biological children, seven of them sons. His second wife Safiya Gaddafi and daughter Aisha were believed to have fled into Tunisia in May 2011.

No Access to Deeds Office-GOVERNMENT PLEASE DEVELOP UNUSED PUBLIC SECTOR LAND AND BUILDINGS

2011-10-21T06:38:00.001-07:00

While we swimming in the tide of dead economy may government work to at least give local Swazis the chance to build at least 20 000 homes by 2015.

With such direction the government will achieve through the release of the land farms it is holding on …It seems like the country does not care to improve these infrastructures for commercial purposes . The amount of land is holding on is more than twice the size of Mbabane and Manzini combined. May the honourable Minister of Housing move a step further to help Swazis across the country reclaim and develop the hundreds of acres of unused public sector land and buildings which could be used to deliver schemes the communities want to see in their areas.

This will help empower Swazis and be able to request a sale of public land and buildings by filling in a simple and user friendly forms which will replace the current system that benefits the country’s cabinet which has been a system which has been obscure and restrictive on the ordinary Swazi who are still dreaming of benefitting from the country’s natural resource.

My approach on this matter is a call for an improved process for requesting the sale of public land and property which will be one way of applying for land to be released by government departments and will also apply to land owned by councils and other public bodies.

Let the ordinary Swazi have access to the details and maps about land owned by government and councils and other public bodies so we as Swazis we can see the unused land thus request its sale thus fulfil the dreams of the country’s constitution of forming a bedrock of the Community Right to Claim Land as a Swazi Citizen.

It is no hidden factor that government is the country’s biggest landlords , so at a time we desperately need homes it has a critical obligation of making these sites available for developers and communities.

It is disheartening that Government has not quickly the ambitious challenge to release land to the Swazis who do not have access to land and decent houses.

In the next three years I will surely preach the same gospel and ensure that this unused land is available for us ordinary Swazis to purchases through the same discounts our current Cabinet enjoyed.

I am just not pleased that local communities do not have an option to improve their local communities by developing unused land and buildings instead we are forced to battle through quagmire of bureaucratic obstruction and indifference.

Lets hope as from the next quarter the ordinary Swazi will have a simple access to the unused land and thus enjoy our right to development.