The voting process has now ended and the people of the Kingdom of Eswatini have spoken.
On behalf of the President of BE and his Board of Directors, the secretariat would like to congratulate the new MPs and to acknowledge their victory in the elections. As BE, we would like to believe that they will have the best interest of the country at heart in the next five years of their dutiful service.
It is remarkable to note that this new crop of MPs is predominantly young and we hope that they will channel their exuberance of youth towards legislative measures that will serve to grow our economy and create the much-needed employment opportunities, especially for our youth.
Undoubtedly, it is the private sector that is the engine for economic growth and job-creation on which our country’s aspirations for prosperity and a better future for all is predicated. It is also the private sector we rely upon to create the jobs and national wealth which we all desperately seek for our socially-inclusive development agenda as a country. As such, we are of the view that it would be folly of our legislators to neglect this sector as this would be tantamount to undermining the very dreams and aspirations we collectively share as the voting public. This is the challenge we place before the in-coming MPs and we have no reason to believe that they will not be equal to the task. To this end therefore, we hereby congratulate them heartily on their victory even before they take their official oath of office.
In the same vein, we would like to pause and acknowledge those aspiring MPs who tossed their hat into the ring but were unsuccessful in securing a victory. BE would like to believe that their participation in the race was a good thing, if only for the purposes of widening the competitive rivalry and enriching the socio-political space and discourse. We thank them for their courage in joining the race and their poise and grace in the wake of defeat. We say to them: ‘Akulahlwa mbheleko ngakufelwa’.
Lastly, it would be remiss of BE to not acknowledge the work of the EBC in executing what is now widely regarded to have been a generally hassle-free election, with minimal disruptions and undue protestations. We feel they pulled it off and their success was, in no small part, also due to the elections app developed by RSTP which played a crucial role in terms of real-time information updates. We congratulate RSTP too. Granted, the app is still work-in-progress and we hope it will be fully refined by the next election-cycle.
On behalf of members of Business Eswatini, and indeed the whole private sector of the Kingdom, we would like to nail our colours to the mast in support of the in-coming MPs of the 12th august house as we wish them well in their pursuit of the public mandate and the country’s larger vision.
By Management