SWAZI CHIEFS DEFY THEIR KING

Traditional leaders in a part of Swaziland have banned all meetings in their area, including social gatherings.

The Swazi Observer reported yesterday (29 April 2008) that people in Mbilaneni have been told that all gatherings ‘and other social activities’ are out for now.

The area’s headman Thami Sheshuyinike Thikazi is reported saying ‘anyone defying the order would be punished’.

At first glance this looks like another attempt by Swaziland’s elite to stop ordinary people campaigning ahead of the kingdom’s national election which is expected sometime in November.

But, this is not the case. The reality is that the traditional leaders have banned the meetings because the area’s Chief Malambule wants his fields weeded. No meetings or social gatherings will be allowed until the fields are clear.

Thikazi is reported saying, ‘It is a command from the highest authority in the land which we all have to obey.’

If that is true it means that King Mswati III himself has ordered the weeding of Malambule’s fields. I somehow doubt this is the case since the king rarely gets involved with such matters. My guess is that the chief is trying it on and using his majesty’s name as a weapon to force people to weed the fields.

The news report highlights one of the realities of life in Swaziland, people are not free. This is especially so in the rural areas where chiefs wield enormous power over individuals. Chiefs can decide who is allowed to live in an area (and who is banished into the wilderness). In these present times of hunger where about 60 per cent of the Swaziland population of just under one million people rely on food aid from overseas’ agencies, chiefs can decide who eats and who does not. Ultimately this may mean that chiefs decide who lives and who dies.

I have no doubt that the people of Mbilaneni will do as they are told and weed the fields.

The Observer quoted Thikazi thanking all the residents ‘who had been loyal to the traditional authority’.

Menacingly, the Observer further reports him saying, ‘Hopefully, even the rebels would one day repent.’

The power of the chiefs was also exposed yesterday in the Times of Swaziland. It reported ‘rumours’ coming from a seminar held by the Elections and Boundaries Commission to sensitise chiefs to the forthcoming election. The Times reported, ‘However, some chiefs are alleged to have gone overboard by telling their subjects who to vote for and discrediting other residents in the process.’

If these ‘rumours’ are true the chiefs are going directly against the wishes of King Mswati III. According to the Observer (24 April 2008), the king said, ‘under the new constitution, the elections were open to all Swazi adults and that the country’s political system has empowered every Swazi to freely choose what they see as the best candidate’.

The Observer also reported the king saying, that the new Swaziland constitution encourages people ‘to nominate and elect on merit, a candidate amongst themselves whom they know best to have the potential of representing their interests in parliament’.

I hope that once the king has read this blogpost he acts swiftly to put his chiefs in their place. The Swazi election will be free. We know this to be true because the king himself has said so.
(Note to editor: please use irony font for last paragraph.)

See also
SWAZI KING SAYS ELECTION IS FREE