Barnabas Dlamini, the illegally-appointed Prime Minister of Swaziland is rattled because he can’t control what’s being said about the undemocratic kingdom on the Internet.
Dlamini, who is internationally recognised as an enemy of freedom and democracy wants to stop what he calls ‘malicious propaganda and misinformation’ about Swaziland spreading across the globe.
What he means of course is that news and comment about his crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Swaziland and the recent death in prison in mysterious circumstances of Sipho Jele has turned the spotlight on him and his paymaster, King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
And Dlamini is powerless to stop it.
We know (because recently he told us) that Dlamini’s government has a stranglehold of the broadcast media in Swaziland and they are only allowed to report what Dlamini’s government allows.
We also know (because Musa Ndlangamandla, the editor in chief of the Observer newspapers, in effect owned by King Mswati, told us) that the Swazi Observer and Weekend Observer will not publish anything that puts the king in a bad light.
That means that people in Swaziland have hardly any way of finding out what is really going on in their own kingdom. That’s why people are setting up websites, blogs, Facebook accounts and so on, to get the message out to the world.
Dlamini told the Swaziland House of Assembly this week, ‘We appeal to those responsible for such malicious propaganda to desist from such behaviour and urge them instead to come up with valid information that will positively benefit the whole country.’
I like the bit about ‘positively benefit the whole country’. Democracy in Swaziland would be a positive benefit to all Swazi people, instead of the system that presently puts all the power in the hands of the king. So, I’d say the Interneters are doing precisely what the bogus Doctor Dlamini ordered.
It is good to know that Dlamini and his supporters are taking such an active interest and are reading the comments from this blog and the other Internet sites about freedom for Swaziland. So freedom fighters of Cyberspace keep up the good work.
And to Dlamini and our new readers: Welcome to you all. I am sure you are finding out many things that you did not previously know about Swaziland. Keep on reading and learn.
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