King Mswati is at it again, offering empty boasts that he
has attracted foreign business people to invest in his kingdom on a large
scale, with thousands of jobs on offer for his impoverished subjects.
The king, who is becoming a serial fantasist, returned to
his kingdom this week from a trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Taiwan claiming that he hadsecured Taiwanese investment to build a pharmaceutical plant, a food
processing plant, a bottled water plant, a cosmetics plant and a granite and
marble venture – which, according to a report in the Times of Swaziland newspaper, were expected to create more than 3
000 jobs.
The Times
also reported that the king had secured investment of E100 million to pay for the project. That figure should have rang alarm
bells with the media in Swaziland because E100 million is about US$10 million -- and you’d need to get a lot of
bang for your bucks to build the five projects the king spoke about on that
money.
It seems every time the
king goes on a trip to the Middle East or Taiwan he comes back with tall tales
of his achievements with businesspeople. The Swazi media, who surely would tell
readers that he was wearing a fine set of clothes even when he was clearly buck-naked,
faithfully report what he says.
But, it takes no more
than five minutes searching through the news archives to demonstrate that King
Mswati simply tells lies.
Here are some of the
projects the king has promised in the past that have not materialised.
In October 2009, he came back from Qatar claiming he had secured US$4.8 billion to develop a ‘world-class’ facility that would store at least a three-month supply of fuel for Swaziland. Nothing happened.
In the same month he said there was about US$200 million available for a facelift for the
Swazi capital city Mbabane. It would have a ‘fully fledged state-of-the-art 21st Century Civic Centre befitting a country’s capital city’. It would have the tallest building in the capital which would be able to host a
number of activities such as national games, business meetings, music and arts
festivals. Building was due to start in 2010 and take three years. Nothing
happened.
For years the king has been banging on about the Sikhuphe international airport,
but it is still under construction in the Swaziland wilderness. This was
supposed to open in 2010 with major airlines fighting to land their planes. It
has not opened. In October 2009, the king announced ‘one of the world’s leading
airlines’, the UAE-based Etihad Airways, would use the airport. No deal
yet.
And, then there was ‘Swazi
City’ with its 250 shops with four floors of luxurious shopping experience;
Royal Villas which would offer up to six-star accommodation facilities suitable
for all type of guests; a 28-floor hotel with 350 guest suites, world-class
restaurants, three swimming areas and in-door sporting facilities, a health spa
and a casino.
The king announced this plan in April 2009. He said the multi-million emalangeni cost (nobody seemed able to give a definite price) would be met by international finance. He said it would be completed in three years and bring 15,000 new jobs. It wasn’t and it didn’t.
The king announced this plan in April 2009. He said the multi-million emalangeni cost (nobody seemed able to give a definite price) would be met by international finance. He said it would be completed in three years and bring 15,000 new jobs. It wasn’t and it didn’t.
In February 2010, King Mswati received a standing ovation at the opening
of parliament when he announced that his government would spend about US$150
million over the next three years on houses for the nation.
It didn’t happen.
The king’s fantasies
date back at least 15 years when he was supposed to have teamed up with another
fantasist, the pop singer Michael Jackson, to bring a ‘Netherland-style’ theme
park to Swaziland. Media reports in 1998 said King Mswati personally met with
Jackson at Disneyland in the US to get him on board. No Netherland has been
built.
It surely speaks
volumes about how much people in Swaziland fear the king, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute
monarch, and who has a state-apparatus ready at his disposal to crush
any dissent, however mild and no matter how justified, that no one will stand
up and say, King Mswati has no clothes.
See also
FANTASY WATCH:
ECONOMIC REALITY
SWAZILAND’S CAPITAL
CITY FANTASY
SWAZILAND’S JOBS
FANTASY
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