Swazi Observer

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GOD SAVE UNESWA

By Mbongeni Mbingo | 2023-04-23

It seems that only divine intervention is all that is left to save this country’s biggest tertiary institution, the University of Eswatini.

It has been the country’s best kept secret that UNESWA has been a shadow of its glory years for a good time now, this evidenced in the institution’s failure to hold its graduation ceremony last year, despite having to postpone the event several times to get the right moment and day for it.

It is understandable of course, why the graduation ceremony was forced to be postponed, twice, at the time and why it eventually made sense to throw in the towel. The atmosphere just wasn’t right, and the country was going through political tensions from which there were elements hell-bent on taking advantage, spreading fear and intimidation in the midst of the endless protest action during that period.

So, the graduation fell off, with thousands of young people who had gone through the most tumultuous period to complete their studies denied the opportunity to celebrate their milestone achievement. Many of those graduates had already made preparations for the event, spending money they really did not have only for the university to call off the event. Perhaps it was a sign of the times, perhaps a sign of things to come.

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The fact that the university could not find a way to do this graduation speaks volumes about the leadership of the institution and its ability to think outside the box.

I know this may sound harsh, but that also reflects in the manner in which the university has failed in the recent turbulent years to manage the tensions from students, if not managing its wage bill and the high expenditure.

I fail to understand how such a great institution still heavily relies on one source of income with its rich and long history and having produced many of the country’s finest products. Where is its ulumni – for instance, and how is it roped in to assist the university improve and evolve?

This speaks to the leadership and vision of the institution, alongside of course of the country – which, truth be told, just can’t bring itself to maximise on the achievement of its glorious past.

Without sounding insensitive, one must reference the former Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, who for some time had become fascinated with the story of Singapore and how that small country turned its fortunes around to become one of the richest countries by recognising and following an ambitious path laid out by its first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.

Mandvulo, may his soul rest in peace, had a vision of this being a Singapore of the southern part of Africa to become a regional powerhouse and started to desire this transformative dream so badly that when he was appointed prime minister, he believed he could have such a similar impact in his time at hospital hill. Those at MTN will tell you how he often spoke about the rise of Singapore during his public engagements, using this to inspire a paradigm shift at Cabinet.

I suppose death robbed us for we will never get to know if he could have achieved this, but the fact he could identify that our country needed to change its course in order to attain its economic freedom was itself a big deal.

In many ways, the University of Eswatini is crying out for such transformation and transformative leadership. It has such a huge potential to become one of the top universities in this region, if not the Sub-Sahara. It is undeniable that the university has regressed over the past decades to alarming levels.

How badly the university has declined can be seen by just taking a look at the state of the three campuses, which are near a state of ruin. The university is stuck in its glorious years when it was under the leadership of the imperious Lydia Makhubu.

The reality for our university is that it has been left behind by many other institutions that have evolved over the years. Nowadays the university is such a sorry sight, needing refurbishment and innovation as well as the vibrancy of the years when it was still a combination of Botswana and Lesotho.

These days it is crying out for not just a strategic leader, but a transformation of the proportions of Singapore’s fortunes!

To illustrate how bad things have become, the university can’t seem to find a compromise, let alone an offer worth its salt to its academic staff in its ongoing dispute that is now nearing two months!

That to me does not inspire any confidence on anyone, and with all its resources, it is shocking there isn’t a positive outcome out of this for so long.

Surely, the university can’t fail this badly to have a meaningful conversation with its own staff, especially in protecting the credibility of the programmes it offers and the academic calendar that is now obviously thrown into disarray! How difficult can it be to find common ground here – unless of course, the issues are far deeper than they actually are, which obviously bring into sharp focus the role of the vice chancellor in dealing with his staff.

This should be understood in the context of the vice chancellor’s ability to lead and to appeal to those that he leads. It also comes down to being able to negotiate for the greater good of the institution, in this case, finding the solution that can make sense, especially as it is clear to all and sundry what finances the university has.

In this case it is easy to draw conclusions as to what this means about the management’s ability to resolve this situation – which is a grave concern.

The truth is that despite the financial predicament being known, the academic staff have no proper belief in their leadership and therefore will not compromise for the benefit of the institution. They are now putting their interests firmly ahead of everything else, perhaps out of frustration over relations being broken down over a long period of time, or breakdown in trust.

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The university has been closed since March, having not even got to start its first semester classes when it reopened. It is locked in an industrial dispute with its lecturers since March 8 and it doesn’t look like there is any hope of a resolution any time soon.

What beggars belief is how this is not a national crisis – when it is clear that the university is crumbling – right in front of our eyes!

It is so painful to even think about what this means to the students who are watching helplessly the situation unfold without any hope of a resolution forthcoming. Instead, everyone is carrying on as though everything is normal.
The biggest problem of course is that the university leadership looks out of its depth and incapable of resolving this impasse.

The longer this has gone on, it doesn’t seem like it is capable of proposing an acceptable counter-offer, or the inspiring leadership that could find a compromise in such a situation.

What it comes down to is that the academic staff believe in their course and will not budge until they get what they want while the university management has played its only hand. Meanwhile, the country is the biggest loser, for if this is what the university has been reduced to, what about its programmes? What about the quality of its education?

This question had already been asked many times during the endless student protests that seemed to disrupt not just the lessons but the quality and credibility of the university.

The student protests last year were too frequent and long which definitely compromised the quality of the product. the last thing the university needed was another punishing strike. For this reason alone, the university would have been expected to resolve this dispute with its academic staff within a short time frame.

There is a sense that the university has needed to get back to normalcy, to get its rhythm back and perhaps to be able to breathe once more.

This stalemate is a clear indictment on the university management and that it is devoid of ideas and has failed the institution. Other than keeping the gates open, management is incapable of transforming the institution to its deserved status. They cannot be counted on to find a solution to the many problems the institution is faced with, and rely on the government for not just the wage bill, but the mere existence.

They need government to pay salaries; they fail to remit the taxes and have an almost E100m tax bill; they can’t do anything to generate their own revenue and need us to give them ideas of how to resolve industrial disputes; the campuses are dilapidated; the curriculum is stuck in the past and there are now fewer students attracted to it.

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It is not rocket science that this management needs to be relieved of their terrible distress for there is nothing that they will help us with.

They can’t step up to the plate and the university needs a new approach to emerge from the doldrums. As it stands, the university management has thrown its hands in the air and left everything to God to help them find a solution to the almost two-month strike because they have no clue what to do.
So God help us all and our university.

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