…Day six of the registering records 50 059
BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – Corporate Guru Gciniwe Fakudze has encouraged the youth to go out and register to vote for the change they want to see in Parliament.
The respected long serving local government practitioner, and personality said a number of people were not using the chance to vote.
“Let us do away with expecting change when we are not doing anything, can the youth out there in numbers vote for the person they want,” said Fakudze.
Fakudze who is a highly skilled executive on customer acquisitions, customer retention and customer service said it was up to the youth to be the change they want to see in the Kingdom.
“Let us not rely on the people we see in Parliament right now but work towards electing or voting for the people we want and who knows, it could also be you who brings the change in your area and the only way to do that is to vote,” said a stern Fakudze.
This publication has published a series of articles where the youth spoken to show interest in elections and being elected.
Previously a member of the youth from Ezulwini Mlindazwe had said: “We need an honest and resilient leader in our community and the King asked us to fully participate in choosing who we want in Parliament and I’m going to do that because I still believe in the system.”
In one voice the community members expressed they were really looking forward to selecting their candidate for parliament and making sure change is brought.
The urgent change they cited included more schools, bridges, fixed roads and flexible business schemes to be handled by the youth.
Worth noting is that the country is gearing towards the 2023 National Elections on a date to be announced where Bucopho, Indvuna yenkhundla and Members of Parliament are expected to be elected under the Tinkhundla System of Government.
Meanwhile the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) confirmed that 36 527 people had registered; this number is subject to change with today’s registration exercise.
The figures were confirmed by EBC Communications Officer Mbonisi Bhembe. Registration for the elections started on May 10, 2023 and is expected to run until June 14 this year, which is a period of five weeks.
Elections were last held in 2018 where over 90 percent of emaSwati registered and eventually 60 percent made it to the ballot box to elect their ideal candidates. Some of the members of both chambers are elected, while the rest are appointed by the King of Eswatini. The election is by secret ballot in a first-past-the-post system of voting.
Members of both chambers serve five-year terms. All candidates run on a non-partisan basis, as political parties are banned.
General elections were held in Eswatini in June 1964 to elect members of the Legislative Council but under the new constitution they were held in 2008.
The commission delegated authority to recommend the recruitment of community registration clerks and competent witnesses to the traditional authorities.
The requirements for recruitment of registration clerks were computer literacy, completion of high school and experience in elections. Traditional authorities were advised to also consider gender balance in their selection.
Meanwhile, The EBC projected over 7 000 temporary jobs during this year’s national elections.
