Only weeks after Swaziland’s
absolute monarch King Mswati III told his subjects the drought in his kingdom
was over, his government has declared a national emergency.
King Mswati had said the
drought was over when his regiments took part in the Incwala ceremony. The Swazi
Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported on 1
January 2016 that the King had ‘pronounced an end to the drought situation’.
It reported, ‘The King said
the drought situation changed as soon as the water party (bemanti) was
commissioned to fetch water in the Indian Ocean in Mozambique.
‘“When the water party was
commissioned (kuphuma kwesigubhu), the heavens responded and we saw rain coming
down and things changed. From there onwards we saw a difference as rain began
to fall and the valleys became green. We have our irrigation system coming
straight from God. We do not need drip irrigation because God has always shown
that He has powers to bring us rain. We use drip irrigation just for the sake
of it, otherwise God is the one who provides us with irrigation water,” the
King said.’
The newspaper added, ‘As he
pronounced an end to the drought situation, the King predicted a bumper harvest
and urged all Swazis to go and work hard in their fields.
‘“God will bring down the
rains to water your fields. The country’s main focus should be on food security
and we are confident we will achieve this. Time has come for us to have plenty
food and stop running to our neighbours to ask for food donations,” he said.’
But King Mswati’s
complacency has led to a devastating delay in taking action.
Swaziland is now at crisis point.
The European
Union in Swaziland reported on
Thursday (18 February 2016), ‘The drought caused by the El Nino
phenomenon has severely affected Swaziland resulting in the loss of more than
40,000 herd of cattle with more than 300,000 people in the country (about 25
percent of the population) facing severe food shortages.’
Barnabas Dlamini, the Prime
Minister of Swaziland who was personally appointed to his post by the King,
officially declared a national emergency on Thursday. He said over the next two
months the Swazi Government would need E248 million (US$16 million). In
total, government would need about E2 billion to address the situation over
five years, the Times of Swaziland,
the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, reported.
The Prime Minister did not
say where the money would come from. Only last week (18 February 2016) King
Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, ordered
the government he hand-picked to slash
budgets as the kingdom faced a financial crisis following a reduction in
receipts from the Southern African Customs Union.
Swaziland, where political parties
are not allowed to contest elections and groups campaigning for democracy are
banned as ‘terrorist’ organisations, is to seek financial aid from overseas –
mostly from multi-party democracies.
EU
Ambassador to Swaziland Nicola Bellomo said the kingdom immediately would
seek E143 million from the ‘donor community’.
He said the EU would support the government's efforts
to mitigate the impact of the drought situation.
See also
WILL
SWAZI KING CUT HIS SPENDING?
GOD
WILL BRING DOWN THE RAINS
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