‘SWAZI LAW TO CURTAIL NGOs’

Swaziland’s government is considering a new law to restrict the work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the kingdom.

Swaziland, which is ravished by poverty and hunger, relies on international donors for aid. Nearly seven in ten people live in abject poverty, earning less than one US dollar a day, up to 60 percent of the population of one million relied on some food aid in the recent past and the HIV rate is 40 percent.

Despite the desperate need of the Swazi population for help, the rulers of Swaziland, headed by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, fear that NGOs are advocating for democracy in the kingdom and their activities need to be curtailed.

The news agency IRIN reports that NGOs are being accused of turning people against the monarch.

To read the full report from IRIN, click here.