Barnabas Dlamini, the Swaziland Prime Minister who has
refused to abide by the kingdom’s constitution and stand down after losing a
vote of no confidence, has previously caused a political crisis by defying the
rule of law.
In 2003, Dlamini was PM and had held office for seven and
a half years. Then, he refused to recognise two court judgements that
challenged King Mswati III’s right to rule by decree. This led to the
resignation of all six judges in the Appeal Court. The court had ruled that the
Swazi King had no constitutional mandate to override parliament by issuing his
own decrees.
In a report running for more than 50,000 words, Amnesty International looked back to the years 2002 and 2003 and
identified activities of Dlamini that ‘included the repeated ignoring of court
rulings, interference in court proceedings, intimidating judicial officers,
manipulating terms and conditions of employment to undermine the independence
of the judiciary, the effective replacement of the Judicial Services Commission
with an unaccountable and secretive body (officially known as the Special
Committee on Justice but popularly called the Thursday Committee), and the harassment
of individuals whose rights had been upheld by the courts.’
Eventually, in a bid to save King Mswati’s face, Dlamini
was forced to resign.
But, King Mswati did not send Dlamini to the political
wilderness. In 2008 the King appointed him to be PM once again. King Mswati,
who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, did this in contravention of
the Swaziland Constitution of 2005 that he had signed into law. The
Constitution states that the Prime Minister must be a member of the House of
Assembly. At the time he was chosen Dlamini was not a member of the House. In
the past Dlamini had sat in six parliaments but had never been elected by
anyone.
In 2008, when introducing Dlamini as the new PM, King
Mwsati told
him publicly to get the terrorists and all who supported them.
Dlamini set about his task with zeal. He banned four pro-democracy
organisations, branding them terrorists.
His Attorney General Majahenkhaba Dlamini told Swazis
affiliated with the political formations to resign with immediate effect or
feel the full force of the law. Under the Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA),
enacted the same year Dlamini came to power, members and supporters of these
groups could face up to 25 years in jail.
Under the draconian provisions of the STA, anyone who
disagrees with the ruling elite faces being branded a terrorist supporter.
The Attorney General Majahenkhaba Dlamini stressed
that the government was after supporters of the banned organisations.
Supporting an organisation, he said, ‘includes associating with such banned
formations’.
This happened at a time when the call for democracy in
Swaziland was being heard loudly both inside the kingdom and in the
international community.
Since 2008, the Dlamini-led Government has clamped down
on dissent. In 2011, Amnesty International reported the ill-treatment, house searches and surveillance of communications
and meetings of civil society and political activists. Armed police conducted
raids and prolonged searches in the homes of dozens of high profile human
rights defenders, trade unionists and political activists while investigating a
spate of petrol bombings. Some of the searches, particularly of political
activists, were done without search warrants.
Amnesty reported that authorities continued to use the STA
to detain and charge political activists. The STA was also used as a basis for
search warrants and other measures to intimidate human rights defenders, trade
unionists and media workers.
In 2010, Dlamini publicly threatened to use torture
against dissidents and foreigners who campaigned for democracy in his kingdom. He said the use of ‘bastinado’, the flogging
of the bare soles of the feet, was his preferred method.
Dlamini told the Times of Swaziland newspaper he wanted ‘to punish dissidents
and foreigners who come to the country and disturb the peace’.
This week, Dlamini said publicly that he would ignore a
vote of confidence passed against him and his government by the House of
Assembly. Under the Constitution he had three days to resign or the King would
be required to sack the Cabinet.
The deadline has passed and King Mswati has made no move
against Dlamini.
See also
PM VOWS TO DEFY CONSTITUTION
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