King Mswati III of Swaziland reckons there’s a lot of ‘insulting information’ about his kingdom to be found on the Internet.
I assume by ‘insulting’ he means ‘true’ information. That is information about the repressive regime he runs in Swaziland and the way he has been crushing legitimate dissent in the kingdom where he is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
He is not the only member of the Swazi ruling elite worried by the Internet. Barnabas Dlamini, the man he illegally appointed Prime Minister was sounding off last month (June 2010) about the ‘malicious propaganda and misinformation’ (i.e. truth) about Swaziland that was on the Internet.
But King Mswati may have a more personal reason to feel ‘insulted’ by the Internet.
A website claiming to be written by the king has been online since August 2008. Phansi Mswati Phansi brings us the view of the world as seen through the eyes of ‘King Mswati’.
Here’s what the ‘king’ wrote on his birthday – 19 April 2010.
‘I, the great Mswati III, am celebrating my birthday and expect all of you viewers to send me best wishes since I am the most wonderful monarch in the world.
‘I am so superior to all humans I can make the rain fall. Today it was very funny to see all my devoted fans - aristocrats and "commoners" - sitting in the rain waiting for me, the supreme one.
‘I have got my own country to close down for the day, but my neighbours - South Africa and Mozambique - are never going to be invited to my parties again since they too did not shut down their countries to celebrate my great birth!
‘I wanted some more women for my birthday - I am 42 and want 42 wives; but all I got was another Rolls Royce. See how hard it is to be a king!’
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