Swaziland has become a
less peaceful kingdom over the past seven years, according to a global report.
The findings of the Global
Peace Index 2014 contradict
a statement made by King Mswati III’s the kingdom’s absolute monarch, last
week that ‘Swaziland was blessed because of the peace and tranquillity that
existed among its people’.
It ranked Swaziland 87
out of 162 countries in the world. The Index measures ‘global peace’ by three
themes: the level of safety and security in society, the extent of domestic or
international conflict and the degree of militarisation. The report stated Swaziland’s
score had deteriorated slightly since the last Index was published seven years
ago.
The report stated that
Swaziland had spent US$370 million in 2013 in what it termed ‘direct violence containment.’
This usually refers to the amount spent on military services. The total
spending equated to UD$300 per person in the population. In Swaziland seven out
of ten people earn less than US$2 per day.
The
Index ranked Swaziland out of 5 in a number of categories (where 5 was ‘very
high’) and found it scored 3 for perceived criminality; 4 for murders; 4.5 for
violent demonstrations; and 3.3 for political instability).
The kingdom, where political
parties are banned from taking part in elections and King Mswati choses the
government, scored less than 1 out of 10 for its electoral process. The functioning
of government scored 2.9 out of 10. It scored 3.3 out of 10 on a ‘political
democracy index.’
The conclusion that
Swaziland is less peaceful than it once was contradicts the message that King
Mswati has been trying to push in the community. The Swazi
Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported as recently
as 25 January 2015, that when dispersing thousands of regiments at Ngabezweni
Royal Residence, after the annual Incwala ceremony, the King attacked critics from
outside the kingdom, saying they were jealous of the peace in Swaziland. He added
Swaziland was blessed because of the peace and tranquillity that existed among
its people.
In 2010,
an ‘assessment
of the current level of human rights understanding’ in Swaziland, commissioned
by the Council of Swaziland Churches and supported by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), found that it was fear, more than anything else,
that was responsible for the peace and stability that King Mswati keeps talking
about.
The study
found out that the majority of the people were afraid of their government hence
they dared not challenge it for fear of reprisals.
The study
said peace and stability were not the products of respect for a functional and
popular system of governance but a product of fear of the political
establishment to the extent that some believed the government had the right to
punish its critics.
The study
found that 74.4 per cent of the respondents who participated believed that
‘people who speak against the government must expect the government to punish
them in any way it sees fit’.
See also
SWAZI ARMY’S IDEA OF ‘PEACE’
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