Swazi gender activists are angry that King Mswati III and the newly elected Parliament have betrayed their hopes, and the Swaziland Constitution, by not appointing more women to the House of Assembly and the Senate.
In the September 2008 elections, just seven women were elected to the Assembly, which numbers 55 members (MPs).
The IPS news agency reported yesterday (10 November 2008) that Lomcebo Dlamini, national coordinator of the rights group Women in Law in Southern Africa-Swaziland (WLSA), said that the 2005 Constitution stipulates several measures to increase the number of women in parliament, but all hopes of getting at least a 30 percent representation (as the constitution requires) were quashed on 17 October 2008 when the king appointed only two women to the Assembly and seven to the Senate.
It seems to me that nobody should be surprised by this. By now we should all realise that the Swazi king and the ruling elite in Swaziland will only respect the parts of the constitution they choose to.
Generally, gender equity is ignored in Swaziland although it is enshrined in the constitution. On the political front last month King Mswati III appointed Barnabas Dlamini as Prime Minister even though the constitution states clearly that the PM must be a member of the House of Assembly. Barnabas Dlamini was not elected by anybody – indeed he never even stood for election.
IPS reported that the lack of women in parliament was ‘disappointing’.
Meketane Mazibuko, gender coordinator with the Lutheran Development Services, said, ‘It’s even worse when the head of state [King Mswati III] violates the country's Constitution just to deprive women a chance of fair representation in Parliament.’
IPS said WLSA’s Lomcebo Dlamini, was shocked that the king, who has said he is the constitution's number one defender, was not ashamed of violating the supreme law of the land and depriving women of their rights.
IPS said observers say that King Mswati, Africa’s last absolute monarch, was angry about a protest by women groups in August 2008 against the extravagant expenditures of the royal family.
Mazibuko also criticised the quality of MPs appointed by the King; most are princes, princesses and chiefs without the skills to be legislators.
The new cabinet also fails the scorecard on gender equality. Out of 18 cabinet ministers, only five are women.
Taking a cue from King Mswati III, the Assembly has ignored the constitutional requirement to elect one woman from each of the four administrative regions.
To read more of the IPS report, click here.
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