The fact that it was written by the government itself puts one in mind of the lazy schoolboy who, allowed to write his own end of term school report, gives himself A-grades in all subjects in the hope that his father will not find out the truth and punish him.
If you took the Cabinet Performance Report at face value you would not know that
Swaziland was on the verge of economic collapse, shorn up only by inflated
receipts from the Southern African Customs Union that will not last forever.
Nor, would you know that every international organisation
that monitors human rights has determined Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati
III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is ‘not free’.
The issue of human rights in Swaziland received only five
lines in the 239-page report and this was only to state that in 2009 the
Commission of Human Rights was established in the kingdom. But, without a hint
of shame, the report records that in 2012, fully three years later, the task of
filling nine posts in the commission was ‘underway’.
Nowhere was there mention that the Suppression of
Terrorism Act had been widely condemned as it labelled legitimate dissenters, ‘terrorists’.
Nor, did it say that Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini had himself called for his
critics to be whipped on the feet to silence them.
Swaziland has been torn apart by a judicial crisis, with
senior judges turning against the Chief Justice, but not a word of this is
mentioned.
The Swaziland Government report baldly states, ‘The Constitution
has throughout the period of this Administration been a continuous point of
reference, and is fully respected as the supreme law of the land.’
This was demonstrated not to be true in October 2012 when the House of Assembly passed a vote of no confidence in the government
by a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution, King Mswati was obliged to
dismiss the government (he had no discretion in the matter), but he ignored the
Constitution and instead of sacking the Prime Minister, who he had personally
appointed (again, in contravention of the Constitution), he forced the House of
Assembly to have a re-vote, which the Government won.
That case alone puts to rest any doubt that King Mswati
and the governments he handpicks do not respect the Constitution.
Free speech is severely curtailed in Swaziland and most
of the media are state-controlled. Censorship by the authorities and
self-censorship by nominally-free media houses is rife, but according to the
government’s version, ‘Consultation with, and participation by, communities, as
a way of encouraging active participation by citizens in their own governance
has continued to be promoted over the course of the Administration.’
This also ignores the many times state police and
security forces have broken up public demonstrations, and even prayer meetings,
to stop people discussing issues of their choice. In April 2011, a protest against
the repressive Mswati regime, that would be deemed legitimate in any democratic
nation, was brutally put down, with leaders arbitrarily arrested without court
orders or warrants.
In April 2013, a protest against Swaziland’s forthcoming
undemocratic elections was broken up by state police and its leaders charged
with sedition.
The Cabinet Performance Report is designed to deflect
attention away from the true realities in Swaziland. Next month (September
2013) elections for the House of Assembly take place in the kingdom. Political
parties are banned from taking part and state police and security forces are
trying to silence those who point out that the parliament has no power as this
rests with King Mswati alone. This will be an excellent opportunity for
observers outside the kingdom to see for themselves what life is really like for
the Swazi.
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