News that King Mswati III has invited Zimbabwean despot Robert Mugabe to his birthday bash will leave an indelible stain on Swaziland.
Already some of the world’s media have used it as an excuse to remind people about the king’s lavish lifestyle and love of expensive cars and the fact that Swaziland is not a democracy.
It was the Swazi News on Saturday (26 July 2008) that first broke the news of Mugabe’s invitation.
The Swazi News reported, ‘Mugabe’s invitation to the 40/40 Double Celebrations definitely sets a sour tone for the party billed for September this year,’ but it did not explain why it was ‘sour’.
It could possibly be because the invitation highlights the kind of company Swaziland’s undemocratic leader keeps.
The 40/40 celebrations are due to take place in September to mark the 40th anniversary of Swaziland’s independence from Great Britain and also the king’s 40th birthday, both of which occur in 2008.
Mugabe became president of Zimbabwe after an election that most people consider to have been stolen (although I have to say not everyone admits this publicly). The Swazi News said, ‘The defiant Mugabe has been slapped with sanctions by the international community to go abroad to attend international functions. The 40/40 party could get him his groove back having been boycotted by the international community.’
Whether Mugabe gets ‘his groove back’ or not, the decision to invite him to the birthday party has gained international attention.
The international news agency AFP on Saturday (26 July 2008) quoted an unnamed official in Swaziland saying that ‘that a fleet of new German-made cars were on their way to Swaziland and would be unveiled during the double celebrations popularly known as 40/40.
‘“New cars for the King, the Queen Mother, his wives and other senior royal family members have already been ordered and they should be arriving mid-August,” the source said.’
Among other news organisation’s, South Africa’s Mail and Guardian carried the report, as did ZimOnline, billed as Zimbabwe’s ‘independent’ news agency.
King Mswati III is well known for his lavish lifestyle and his love of cars. He has been widely criticised in international circles in the past for spending huge sums of money on himself and his wives at a time when about 70 percent of people in Swaziland live in dire poverty, struggling to survive on an income of less than one US dollar a day.
It is not yet certain that Mugabe will accept the offer to attend the party. Mugabe doesn’t have much respect for the king, especially after the king criticised the way the Zimbabwean election was handled. Mugabe told King Mswati that as an autocratic monarch of a kingdom where political parties are banned he couldn’t teach Mugabe anything about democracy.
The Voice of America (VoA) reported yesterday (28 July 2008) that the invitation was ‘generating intense criticism in the Southern African sub region’. VoA said that some political analysts believe Mugabe’s invitation is an attempt by the Swazi king to make peace with the Zimbabwe leader after the offence he caused by criticising the Zimbabwean election.
The VoA also extensively quoted Mario Masuku, the leader of Swaziland’s banned political party, the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).
Masuku told VoA that ordinary Swazi were against the huge cost of the celebrations, which are estimated to cost anything up to E50 million (about 7 million US dollars).
‘We are not only frowning on the invitation of Robert Mugabe. The celebrations themselves are unwarranted, it is just a waste of money for the Swazi nation, but worse still we now believe they are all people of the same team for King Mswati to invite a dictator that has violated fundamental human rights of the people of Zimbabwe to be brought here.
‘“It is an insult or adding salt into wounds of the people of Swaziland. Already people of Swaziland who are poor and unemployed are unhappy about the celebration. But the invitation of Robert Mugabe is adding salt into the wounds, and as far as PUDEMO is concerned, we think it is completely unnecessary and an affront to the fundamental rights of the people,” Masuku said.
VoA reported, ‘Masuku described the estimated cost of the planned celebration as completely unjustified, which he said shows the kings profligacy of spending the people’s money without caring for the suffering masses.
‘Masuku said, “I believe that the money could have been used into improving of the stand of living of the people of Swaziland. Currently, there are people who are suffering from the drought, people who are unemployed the money could have gone into improvement of the health facilities, the money could have gone into the improvement of the education standards of Swaziland. We believe that the king if he wanted a birthday for himself, he could have done so from his own resources, but not from the people’s taxes.”
The 40/40 celebration shave come under intense attack from some newspapers within Swaziland. In May 2008, the Swazi News reported that huge sums of money were being spent on equipping Swaziland’s armed forces in preparation for the celebrations. The official line was that the bullets and guns were needed to protect visiting dignitaries. The army was also deployed across the kingdom, raising suspicions that they might be used against civilian populations if there was any public dissent during the celebrations.
Also in May 2008, the Times of Swaziland’s managing editor, Martin Dlamini wrote in his own newspaper that the celebrations should be called off because the kingdom couldn’t afford them.
I have already written myself that if the 40/40 celebrations go ahead King Mswati III will once again be reviled in the eyes of the international community for spending money irresponsibly. He will also be seen to be out of touch with the realities of life in his own kingdom. This will do him immense personal harm and it will also damage Swaziland because it will make international donors reluctant to do business with the kingdom (something the IMF has already identified as happening).
Inviting Mugabe to his birthday bash also reminds the international community that King Mswati III is an authoritarian ruler and he keeps very strange bedfellows. Can you image what international donors will say once a photograph of Mswati and Mugabe ‘getting their groove back’ (as the Swazi News likes to put it) circulates around the world?
See also
SWAZILAND 'PREPARES FOR WAR'
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