BY MBONO MDLULI
LOBAMBA – Members of Parliament cannot wait to celebrate the Buganu ceremony with Their Majesties at Hlane Royal Residence.
The second phase of the Buganu ceremony is set to kick off today and end on Sunday. To show their eagerness to take part in this event, the MPs shifted today’s session to next week Monday, so that they can be able to fully prepare themselves for the event. The MPs are debating the annual performance of the Cabinet ministries for 2023/24, having started this work on Monday this week.
Speaking yesterday during the 2023/24 annual performance debate of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the House of Assembly, the MPs praised Minister of Home Affairs Princess Lindiwe and her team at the Ministry for having organised a successful event at Buhleni Royal Residence last month.
The Legislators told her in no uncertain terms that they looked forward to the second phase of the event. They told the Minister that they expected nothing but success at the event. They expected everyone to be happy. MP Tsembeni Magongo praised the Minister and the Ministry of Home Affairs officials for ensuring the uniformity during such an event.
Magongo said Eswatini was known for unity, among the many things it was known for. She said the uniformity was able to conceal the social and economic status of the women who took part in that event. The way in which the women danced during such events was a marvel to watch to some people, especially tourists, according to the MP. She encouraged the Minister to ensure that such events like Buganu, Umhlanga, Incwala and other events continued because they encouraged unity among Emaswati.
However, Magongo complained about what she termed as the monopolising of lihiya (kanga). She said there was a certain business person or people who monopolised the traditional product and inflated its price such that it became exorbitant. Magongo said they were going to have a problem buying the lihiya and they would look up to the Minister to provide them with such.
LaMgabhi MP Sicelo Jele said the people from their constituencies also looked forward to the event. However, they had problems with the logistics of the event. He said sometimes the regiments from their constituencies did not get proper means of transport to the event and could not get enough food at the event. He wanted to know the roles of the MPs in ensuring that such problems were avoided. He also wanted to know what Constituency Chairpersons and Bucopho’s roles were in such situations.
Lobamba MP Micheal Masilela praised the Ministry of Home Affairs for marketing the culture of Emaswati with the events such as Buganu. He said such events attracted tourists, who came to the country to witness how the traditional dances were done. The influx of tourists improved the country’s economy. He also praised the ministry for improving the experience of the women as they travelled to such events. He said the women were now happy that they now travelled in buses.
Ngudzeni MP Charles Ndlovu pleaded with the Ministry to ensure that buses were provided in Ngudzeni. Ndlovu said the women from his constituency were made to travel in trucks and that posed a danger to the women. MP Princess Nkosungumenzi pleaded with the ministry to ensure that such events like Buganu continued so that people could benefit from them.
Mbabane East MP Welcome Dlamini said such events were growing with each year passing. However, he implored the ministry to come up with a strategy to take care of people after Their Majesties had addressed the nation. He said some of the people had problems on where to go after the address by Their Majesties. He said not everyone could go to emkhandlweni.
Dlamini also pleaded with the Ministry and the security organisations of the country to ensure that visitors were able to see the King and Indlovukazi. Under the prevailing circumstances, the MP said security officials denied the visitors a chance to see Their Majesties, such that they could think anyone with the right traditional regalia was the King.
The MP said under the prevailing circumstances, it was expensive for MPs to send Lutsango to such events, as each MP would have to pay at least E80 000 to ensure the presence of Lutsango from their constituency. He pleaded for the Ministry’s intervention on that regard.
