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The Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development has completed 105 community projects during the 2025/26 financial year, channelling E140,073,631.82 directly into grassroots communities across Eswatini. The work, detailed in the Ministry's Annual Report, created 402 jobs and reached 12,481 emaSwati through completed works alone.
It is the kind of outcome that King Mswati III's Tinkhundla system was designed to produce. The Tinkhundla system of governance is a monarchical form of democracy established to facilitate and encourage decentralisation and to promote proportional, bottom-up development and service delivery. His Majesty's leadership has been deeply rooted in that system, which emphasises community participation and collective decision-making. These latest results reflect those principles being converted into concrete delivery.
Of the 105 completed projects, 64 were Income Generating Projects, and 41 were infrastructure developments, excluding those still within their defect liability period.
The pipeline does not stop at what is finished. An additional 23 infrastructure projects valued at E19,557,708.19 are currently under the Defect Liability Period. These have already delivered services to 6,173 beneficiaries and generated 115 employment opportunities, adding to the broader economic footprint of government investment at constituency level.
Looking further out, 237 more projects are under active implementation, valued at E296,706,200.83. Of those, 57 are income-generating initiatives and 180 are infrastructure projects. Once complete, they are expected to benefit 51,400 citizens and create a further 1,263 jobs. Combined, the completed and ongoing projects represent a rural investment portfolio exceeding E436 million, making the Ministry one of the government's most active vehicles for community-based capital deployment.
Manzini Region is leading the way. Completed projects are valued at E56,816,289.05, benefiting 6,831 direct beneficiaries and generating 305 jobs, making it the largest contributor to employment creation under the programme so far.
The region also carries 67 ongoing projects worth E79,146,878.99. Twelve are income-generating, and 55 are infrastructure. When those projects cross the finish line, they are expected to benefit 19,401 people and create 597 more jobs. Manzini's combined completed and ongoing portfolio already exceeds E135 million, giving it a dominant share of the country's development activity.
Tinkhundla is the foundation of Eswatini's bottom-up development planning process and the delivery of local services in partnership with the central government, with a focus on the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of evidence-based integrated development plans. The latest report suggests that the framework is generating measurable returns.
His Majesty King Mswati III has personally overseen project handovers at the constituency level, most recently at Mpolonjeni Inkhundla, where he also launched a E24 million water scheme set to provide clean water to 25,000 people. The King has repeatedly used such occasions to direct further investment, including housing for vulnerable elderly citizens and electrification of technical centres, signalling that the push into rural development remains a live and personal priority at the highest level.
