Starving people in Swaziland are being denied food by the
government because it is punishing the kingdom’s members of parliament for
passing a vote of no confidence against it, local and international media have
claimed.
Food intended to feed destitute families, especially
those headed by single women with children, has been deliberately left to rot
in government warehouses, they said. One Swazi newspaper said, ‘[T]here could
be a deliberate ploy at cabinet to systematically starve the people’.
Swaziland has a food crisis and in recent years up to a
half of Swaziland’s 1.1 million population have relied on donated food to stop
from starving.
Now, a scandal is being uncovered in Swaziland that
points to the government deliberately withholding food from starving people, in
the hope they will blame their local members of parliament for the problem.
The international news agency IRIN reported the problem is being blamed on ‘bad blood’
between members of parliament (MPs) and members of King Mswati III’s cabinet.
This is after the House of Assembly passed a no-confidence vote in October 2012
against Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini, who is both a relative and appointee
of the king. The no-confidence vote was later reversed.
The Swazi Observer,
the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, in an editorial comment said,
‘[T]here could be a deliberate ploy at cabinet to systematically starve the
people’.
IRIN reported, ‘Although the
country has institutions resembling those in democracies, Swaziland's
parliamentarians do not enact legislation; rather, they approve policies of the
king’s appointed cabinet.
‘But MPs are still responsible to their constituents -
voter registration began a few days ago for this year’s scheduled elections,
although a poll date has yet to be announced. Political parties remain banned.
‘Some observers believe the disruption of food supplies
was meant as a lesson for the MPs.
‘Aaron Simelane, a Swaziland-based political commentator,
told IRIN, “MPs are considered community development agents by the people who
vote ... Swazis want their MPs to bring roads, jobs and aid to their
communities, but MPs have no power to do any of these things. [The] cabinet has
this power.
‘“The people do not know this, and when things aren’t
done they blame MPs, who promise to deliver this and that to get elected. By
withholding food aid, [the] cabinet is teaching MPs a lesson about power.”’
Local media in Swaziland reported that ‘hundreds of 50kg
bags of beans, mealie-meal and boxes of cooking oil’ had been left to rot at
the government central warehouse in Matsapha.
IRIN said the spoiled food included, ‘15,000kg of the staple
maize meal, 25,000kg of beans and 600 cartons of vegetable oil.’
The Swazi Observer in an editorial comment stated, ‘[T]ons of donated
staples like maize, beans and cooking oil were deliberately being allowed to
rot at a government granary in Matsapha, while starving people had to contend
with the pangs of hunger out there.
‘We may be forced to agree with the honourables [members
of parliament], who are now claiming there could be a deliberate ploy at
cabinet to systematically starve the people and obliterate them from the face
of their army worm-ravaged areas.’
The Observer
went on to say, ‘Or much sinister still, it is to alienate the present crop of
MPs from their constituents, so they cannot be voted back to parliament, if
that was to happen.
‘Are the hungry people being used to hit back at the MPs
for their still-born vote of no confidence last year? When things happen in
this manner, one starts to believe even the most far-fetched theories, which is
why government should avoid such embarrassing situations at all costs.
‘That people are hungry out there is a given. Even those
who send money home from towns have drastically reduced the amounts they send
as a result of high costs of living and the triple-taxation they are forced to
shoulder.’
The Swazi Government which is hand-picked by King Mswati,
who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, caused a
scandal in March this year when it was revealed it had sold maize donated forhungry people by Japan, for about US$3 million.
The money was put in a special account at the Central Bank of Swaziland. The Government has yet to publicly reveal exactly what the money was spent on.
The money was put in a special account at the Central Bank of Swaziland. The Government has yet to publicly reveal exactly what the money was spent on.
IRIN reported the UN World Food
Programme (WFP) in Swaziland provides food assistance at more than 1,500
neighbourhood care points, more than 200 secondary schools and 12 health
facilities. In 2012, the WFP supply chain reached 327,000 people.
In 2007, more than half of the kingdom’s 1.1 population required food
aid, IRIN said.
See also
SALE OF FOOD AID BY GOVT ‘NOT ANOMALY’
GOVT SELLS MAIZE DONATED FOR HUNGRY
GOVT-DONATED MAIZE SCANDAL WON’T DIE
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