Remarks of the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. George Wachira during the visit to Lavumisa Town Board on the 10th August 2022

Programme Director

Hon. Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development

Babe Chief Gasa WaNgwane

Member of Parliament for Somntongo Inkhundla

The Mayor, CEO and staff of Lavumisa Town Board

Principal Secretary

UN Colleagues

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen

Sanibonani Emini!

Once again, I am honoured and privileged to join the Minister of Tinkhundla Administration & Development, Hon. David Ngcam-pha-la-la on another tour of decentralised structures.

A few months ago, when I met the Minister in his office we had a conversation about visiting some of these decentralised structures to learn more about the country’s system of governance. Today is my second visit following our pleasant and eye-opening tour of the Lobamba Inkhundla on the 20th of July where we learnt that the Centre offers services ‘in the twinkle of an eye’ and all under one roof.

Honourable Minister, thank you once again for the invitation and hospitality you have afforded the UN family. Let me also take this opportunity to thank Ms. Rose Ssebatindira, the UNDP Resident Representative, who was with me in Lobamba with other Heads of UN Agencies and is here with me again today.

As I mentioned in Lobamba, our role as the UN is to support the efforts of the Kingdom to improve the lives of the people of Eswatini in line with the national aspirations benchmarked against the global 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities, for example, has a specific target (Target 11.a) which encourages all stakeholders to “support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.”

Based on what I have learned during these visits, I am confident that Eswatini is making great progress to achieve this target as the Kingdom continues to implement the decentralisation policy as the basis of the country's system of government.

In many countries, it has been demonstrated that decentralisation allows the people to have a greater say in their own development priorities; and for government to align its resource allocation and policies in ways that make development real and responsive to the needs of its people.  In particular, decentralisation spurs the acceleration, targeting and improvement of quality of services.

Coming as I do from Kenya, I have seen the transformational capabilities of decentralisation over the last 10 years. I have seen both public and private investments grow exponentially in a short period of time, with attendant job creation and growth of rural towns. Decentralisation is indeed the way to go! I commend the progress made in the Bill and hope that it will soon become law.

It is clear that towns such as Lavumisa are well positioned to be a platform to motivate people into action to achieve the SDGs through making small but impactful changes in our daily lives in order to make towns and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

In this regard, I am excited to learn about the Lavumisa Power Station, which is the Kingdom’s first utility scale Solar Photovoltaic Plant , built to increase renewable energy generation in the national energy mix to 50% by the year 2030.

This is commendable and is putting the Kingdom of Eswatini in the global map of countries making significant strides to achieve the SDGs.

This is an example of good partnerships that communities and towns can explore to create opportunities for people at the local level, including creating jobs. Through UNDP, the UN is supporting the development of skills in the installation and maintenance of solar systems and I hope, with these kinds of investments, Eswatini can be a leader in demonstrating the all-round benefits of transitioning to green energy.

I do hope we can explore other areas of collaboration including such as protecting and investing in cultural and natural heritage. This may include investment in environmental protection and protection of cultural and natural heritage sites which, if well managed, can provide subsistence for local communities and also contribute community tourism.

Honourable Minister, I am well aware of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic everywhere, including in our communities. There are other threats such as climate change and the disturbances, including conflict, which are causing dramatic food and energy prices hikes across the globe, including in Eswatini.

Such challenges are demanding extraordinary leadership everywhere. They are demanding  every more focused and collaborative leadership to enable us to step up and ensure that all our energies and imagination are singularly directed to seeking solutions at our own levels, to navigate the crises we face, globally and locally, for the sake of the people we serve.

On behalf of the UN family, I pledge our support to all efforts aimed at helping the Kingdom to recover better from all these challenges in the journey towards the 2030 Agenda, with less than 8 years remaining.

Once again, I am grateful to be part of this educational tour which continues to give us ideas, about how we can work together even better to ensure better lives for all EmaSwati.

Siyabonga Kakhulu.