Swaziland is holding elections on 21 September but political parties are banned from taking part. Only 59 members of the House of Assembly are elected by the people; the King appoints another 10. None of the 30 members of the Swazi Senate are elected by the people. The elections are recognised across the world as fake. King Mswati chooses the Prime Minister, the government and all top judges and civil servants.
Seven in ten of the 1.1 million population live in
abject poverty with incomes less than the equivalent of US$2 per day. The
global charity Oxfam named Swaziland as the most unequal country in the world
in a report
that detailed the differences in countries between the top most earners and
those at the bottom.
The World
Food Program estimated 350,000 people (a third of the population) in
Swaziland were in need of food assistance. WFP helped 65,473 of them. It said
it was regularly feeding 52,000 orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) aged
under eight years at neighbourhood care points. About 45 percent of all
children in thought to be OVCs.
It reported chronic malnutrition affected 26 percent
of all children in Swaziland aged under five.
In
a report published at the end of May 2018, WFP said
it needed US$1.13 million for the six months to November. It reported that due
to lack of funds it had to halt indefinitely the Food by Prescription programme
that assists people living with HIV and TB. The programme offers nutrition
assessments, counselling and support services to 24,000 malnourished people
receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), treatment for TB, prevention of mother
to child transmission (PMTCT) services, as well as support to their families
through a monthly household ration.
At his 50th birthday in April the Queen Mother gave the King Mswati a
dining room suite made of gold. It went alongside a lounge
suite trimmed with gold that he was given by
senior members of his government.
He also received cheques totalling at least E15 million
(US$1.2 million) to help pay for his birthday celebration that took place on 19
April 2018.
On that day he wore a watch
worth US$1.6 million and a suit weighing
6 kg studded with diamonds. Days earlier he had taken delivery of
his second private jet. This one, an Airbus A340, cost US$13.2 to purchase but
with VIP upgrades
was estimated to have cost US$30 million.
The King has 13 palaces in impoverished Swaziland. He
also owns fleets of top-of-the range Mercedes and BMW cars. His family
regularly travel the world on shopping
trips spending millions of dollars each time.
The Swazi Observer
reported that more than E15 million
had been given to pay for the so-called 50-50 Celebration that marked the
King’s 50th birthday and the 50th anniversary of
Swaziland’s Independence from Great Britain.
At least E1.6 million came
from public funds. The Royal Swaziland Police Service and the Royal Correctional
Service gave E300,000 each and the Public Service Pension Fund gave E1 million.
The Observer
reported King Mswati was in ‘a jovial mood as he received the gifts’.
To mark the 50th anniversary of independence
the Swaziland Human Rights Network UK wrote an open letter to the High
Commissioner of Swaziland in Great Britain.
It read in part, ‘The 50th Independence Day finds the country mired
in myriad socio-economic and political problems: The economy of the kingdom of
eSwatini is on a spiralling downturn, worsening human rights record, an
alarmingly widening gap between the rich and the poor, an ever increasingly
powerful political elite headed by King Mswati III and the Dlamini royal
family, rampant government corruption, poor ease of doing business index,
record crime statistics including ritual murder, lack of any notable foreign
direct investment to name but a few of the significant problems facing the
nation. Given the foregoing we ask ourselves if there is anything worth
celebrating on the 06th September 2018!
‘We hereby call upon your office to express our
collective concerns to the eSwatini government particularly on the issues of
human rights and democratic change into a people-driven political plurality. We
are alarmed by the most recent and continuing police brutality against peaceful
demonstrators. The use
of live ammunition by the police against members of the Swaziland National
Association of Teachers represents a dangerous and unprecedented nadir on
industrial matters and public security.
‘The government’s continuing lavish spending on such
projects as the Prime Minister’s retirement home, the aircraft hangar at King
Mswati III airport and the expensive luxury vehicles for top government
officials against a decline on student scholarships, poor spending on elderly
grants and heavy reliance on foreign aid and massive borrowing for capital
projects defines a government of upended priorities.
‘We also note with alarm the ever-growing security
budget and the acquisition of arms by the security forces at a time when the
nation is not at war. Poverty levels remain stubbornly high while the
government turns a blind eye to the plight of the poor. Hospitals often have
to do without vital medical and equipment supplies. Therefore, we contend
that on the 50th Anniversary of the Kingdom of eSwatini’s Independence, there
is very little to celebrate!’
Richard
Rooney
See
also
King
Eats Off Gold, Children Starving
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/king-eats-off-gold-children-starving.html
Swazi Cabinet’s Gift Of Gold
Swazi Cabinet’s Gift Of Gold
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/swazi-cabinet-gift-of-gold-to-king.html
Kingdom Bottom In World Health Ranking
Kingdom Bottom In World Health Ranking
Swazi
Govt ‘Killing Its Own People’
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