The Party said in a statement they were arrested during a continuing campaign against the ‘feudal’ rule of King Mswati III, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
The CPS said, ‘CPS activists are playing a prominent
role in mobilizing communities to stop feudal leaders from barring boys from
schooling and attending university because of their non-attendance at the
King’s annual ritualistic events.
‘Such protests have cantered in amongst other many
communities, on Siphofaneni, Ka-Ngcamphalala Chiefdom as well as on Siyandle,
in Shiselweni Region. Community members held a meeting at Siphofaneni to tell
the chief that the abuse of people in the name of culture must end.’
It added, ‘The Communist Party of Swaziland is calling
for robust solidarity with the local communities under feudal rule in our
country who have been protesting efforts to punish young boys for not taking
part in King Mswati’s “traditional” ceremonies.’
The statement added, ‘The CPS is confronting the
Mswati regime on its manipulation of traditional cultural practices for dubious
purposes, mainly to intimidate Swazis into reverence for the monarchy.’
The CPS said it had been leafleting rural areas,
‘to mobilise opposition to royal rule and its obsequious implementation by
local chiefs. This is being done in a tense situation of surveillance and
intimidation by undercover police and military intelligence.’
The four men arrested will appear at Siteki
Magistrate court on charges of arson.
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