UNESWA signs Memorandum of Understanding With The Parliament of Eswatini
UNESWA, through the Consultancy and Training Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Parliament of the Kingdom of Eswatini with the aim of giving legislators the opportunity to acquire the skills, knowledge and experience necessary in their field of work.
The Agreement was signed at a meeting held at the Houses of Parliament in Lobamba which was attended by representatives of the two partners, including UNESWA Vice Chancellor, Professor Justice Thwala, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Henry Gadaga and UNESWA Registrar, Dr. Salebona Simelane. Also present was the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Bertram Stewart who was representing the Minister for Education, Lady Howard-Mabuza.
The Agreement between the two partners will ensure that legislators are given the necessary training to better position them to fulfill the vision of Parliament of being an efficient, transparent, accountable, responsive and accessible to Emaswati whilst ensuring shared national growth and prosperity.
Speaking during the signing of the MOU, UNESWA Vice Chancellor, Professor Justice Thwala, said the areas of collaboration between the two partners will entail assisting Parliament in the development of a strategic plan for the 11th Parliament, carry out training needs assessment, design and offer short courses and long term certificate courses for Parliament staff and design capacity building programmes for parliamentarians and parliament staff. “The partnership will also help the University in designing internship programmes tenable in parliament for University of Eswatini students so that they get the opportunity to put into practice what they have learnt”, he said.
Senate President, Pastor Lindiwe Dlamini, when speaking at the same event, said the partnership will transform legislators to grow in leaps and bounds. “The university has various faculties such as the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities which offers the Journalism and Mass Communication programme. From the Law Faculty, we are looking forward to having short term courses such as Legal Drafting and Constitutional Law”.
The ultimate result of the partnership will be an academy or an institution which aspiring members of Parliament could utilize to gain an knowledge on what happens inside the House of Assembly and the House of Senate. This could also be a source of revenue for Parliament while at the same time cutting training costs for new Members of Parliament as experienced politicians can be used to train aspiring MPs.
