Back Southern & East Africa: Swaziland Background Swaziland is the last country in the Southern African region that has not undertaken a democratic transition to multi-party politics. In October 2003, national parliamentary elections were held in which a 55-member National Assembly was elected. However, due to the continuing ban on political parties, opposition groups called for a boycott of the elections. Coupled with the national elections, the kingdom is undertaking a constitutional review process aimed at developing a constitution to replace the 1973 Decree that banned political parties. The constitutional process is boycotted by the pro-democracy forces, who claim that the Constitutional review Commission is biased in favor of the status-quo. In addition to the election activities, a series of bombings have rocked the once quiet kingdom. A group identifying itself as the "Black Tigers" have claimed responsibility for the bombings, demanding multiparty politics and greater political democratization in the country. Past Program Overview NDI completed an eight-month USAID-funded program to assist in all aspects local government elections and conduct a local government training program. This program built upon the past work of NDI in the Manzini special elections in November 1997. At that time, NDI was invited into Swaziland by the Prime Minister and Manzini City Council to help overcome an election impasse in the largest town in Swaziland. These elections led to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development inviting NDI to assist in the local government elections program. NDI agreed to assist the local government process based upon the belief that developing effective, efficient and transparent local government could assist in the democratic transition process. The democratic nature of local government could encourage the central government to democratize even further. Local Government Elections The election component of the program consisted of a series of voter education and candidate training exercises including workshops as well as print and broadcast support of the process. In addition, NDI trained polling station staff to properly administer the elections on voting day. These activities culminated in over 70 percent of eligible voters registering for the local government elections and 35 percent of eligible voters casting ballots. These figures are the highest in the history of elections in Swaziland. Local Government Training The local government training program adapted nine NDI local government manuals to the circumstances in Swaziland. Three of nine manuals were printed by NDI for two separate workshops including: A Guide for Conducting Public Meetings, A Guide for Understanding Local Government Laws and Managing Local Government Finances. The first workshop entitled "How to Conduct a Public Meeting and Understanding Local Government Laws" was conducted in nine of the 11 municipalities with over 75 percent of local councilors attending. The second workshop entitled "Understanding Local Government Finance" was conducted in five of the 11 municipalities with over 65 percent of local councilors attending. Contact Information For more information on NDI's work in Southern and East Africa, please contact: Brionne Dawson, Program Officer Send Email Back