SADC appoints executive secretary to lead Election Observer Mission to Eswatini's 'tinkhundla' vote

• Botswana's Elias Magosi, SADC's executive secretary, will lead the bloc's observation mission to Eswatini.
• The mission has been deployed to all four regions of the kingdom to observe the pre-election, and post-election phases. 
• A full 86% of AmaSwati indicated the last absolute monarchy's economic position was "fairly bad" or "very bad", an Afrobarometer survey found.

SADC's executive secretary, Elias Magosi will lead the regional bloc's Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) to Eswatini for the Kingdom's general elections slated for the end of this month.

Magosi was assigned to the mission by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema in his capacity as chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Co-operation.

The deployment is in line with the revised SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections of 2021, after King Mswati extended the invitation.

Magosi will then have the SEOM "deployed to all four regions of the Kingdom of Eswatini to observe the pre-election and post-election phases."

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Just like the SEOM's previous mission to Zimbabwe, the mission will assess the conduct of the elections against the bloc's principles and guidelines.

These include, amongst others, "full participation of the citizens in the democratic and development processes, measures to prevent political violence, intimidation, and intolerance, equal opportunity for all political parties to access the state media; access to information by all citizens, and acceptance of and respect for the election results by all candidates."

An electoral system called tinkhundla is used as a type of government based on conventional administrative divisions in Eswatini.

There are 55 tinkhundlas in Eswatini's four districts.

Political parties or affiliates are not allowed to take part in elections.

The system is largely seen as a platform for the king to cherry-pick his preferred people to make up the legislature.

In December last year, representatives from Eswatini's civil society and opposition parties gathered in South Africa to discuss and agree on a plan for forcing King Mswati III to resign and establish a democratic monarchy.

What the people say

Afrobarometer in July conducted an opinion poll in Eswatini.

Some of the findings were that the people of Eswatini lack faith in the capability of their government to address urgent issues.

A full 86% of AmaSwati indicated the last absolute monarchy's economic position was "fairly bad" or "very bad."

Only 12% felt the government was doing fine in managing the economy, and 10% said the government was doing enough to improve the standard of living.

READ | 'The country is going in the wrong direction': Eswatini majority unhappy with monarchy, survey finds

6% agreed that the government was on the right track in job creation, and 5% said the government was doing just fine in narrowing the gap between the rich and poor.

In its interpretation of the findings, Good Governance Africa (GGA), a research and advocacy organisation, said: "The discontent and lack of confidence revealed in this survey signal a call for change. Eswatini's citizens demand economic policies that prioritise their well-being."