BY THEMBA ZWANE
EZULWINI – Government has announced plans to transform the Eswatini College of Theology into a fully-fledged university.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Russell Dlamini on February 26, 2026, during the institution’s graduation ceremony, where 114 students from the Class of 2025 received their qualifications.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Minister Bongani Nzima, who represented Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo, as well as Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi.
“I am deeply honoured and privileged to join you, Class of 2025, in celebration of this remarkable achievement. Today, brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, is not only a ceremony — it is a symphony of triumph, a chorus of hope, and a proclamation of destiny,” said the Prime Minister.
He acknowledged the evolution of the institution since its inception in 1987 and commended the faculty for nurturing and sustaining it over the years.
“Eswatini College of Theology has made a profound impact on the Christian fraternity in the Kingdom of Eswatini, and indeed, to some extent, across the Southern African region. SCOTH has opened the doors of theological education to many who might otherwise have been excluded,” he said.
The Prime Minister noted that the college is one of the few long-standing institutions in the country and has reached a level of maturity deserving of university status.
“It is now mature enough to transition into a university, and Government supports efforts to see it rise to that level. We call for a stronger, balanced and all-Scripture-based curriculum that will continue to shape leaders of faith and integrity. Education opens doors, but character keeps them open,” he said.
He added that knowledge builds bridges, but wisdom guides the steps across them. While graduates had mastered the textbooks of man, he urged them to master the living Word of God.
Quoting 2 Timothy 2:14–16, he reminded graduates: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
“Graduates, today you are approved by man — your degrees are the seal of your diligence. But to be approved by God requires more than the seal of human hands. It requires time in the secret place, where prayers rise like incense. It requires continuous reading and meditation, where Scripture becomes the lamp to your feet. And it requires humility, where greatness bows before grace,” he said.
The Prime Minister cautioned graduates against contributing to challenges facing the church today, including false doctrines, cults driven by money and power, deceptive miracles and self-promotion instead of service.
He urged them to become agents of unity rather than division, love rather than hatred, and truth rather than deception. Like Paul of Tarsus, he said, they were called to carry the name of Jesus Christ boldly into the world and to let their lives preach Christ even without words.
Speaking about leadership and initiative, the Prime Minister shared a lesson he learned more than 30 years ago — that in life there are three categories of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.
“The first are innovators, bold dreamers and pioneers who carve paths where none exist. They are the minority. The second are spectators and critics who stand on the sidelines. The third are the confused and passive — and they form the overwhelming majority,” he said.
“Graduates, I urge you today: choose to be part of the first category. Be the generation that makes things happen. Be the architects of tomorrow, the voices of change, the hands that heal, the minds that invent.”
In closing, he encouraged graduates to adopt the blueprint for life articulated by Martin Luther King Jr. — to formulate a clear plan for their lives and pursue it with unwavering determination.
“If you cannot fly, then run. If you cannot run, then walk. If you cannot walk, then crawl. But by all means — move forward,” he quoted.
“Move forward with courage. Move forward with faith. Move forward with humility. Move forward with the fire of innovation and the fragrance of grace.
“Graduates of 2025, the world awaits your brilliance, but heaven awaits your obedience. May you be approved not only by man, but by God. May you rise as innovators, as leaders, as servants of truth. And may your journey be a testimony that when knowledge meets faith, the impossible becomes possible.”
He congratulated the Class of 2025 and urged them to go forth and make things happen.
