The Swazi delegation are impressed with the Kalashnikovs. Picture: Quartz
King Mswati III, the
absolute monarch of Swaziland (eSwatini), and members of his delegation
attended a trade fair in Russia to investigate the latest military hardware
offered for sale to African countries.
It happened at the Black
Sea city of Sochi on the opening day of the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit.
Russian president Vladimir Putin gave an introductory address that positioned its renewed push in the continent in the Soviet tradition of fighting colonialism.
Russian president Vladimir Putin gave an introductory address that positioned its renewed push in the continent in the Soviet tradition of fighting colonialism.
The Quartz website reported,
‘Russian officials argued deals with the modern Russia offered African states
their “independence” presumably implying deals with former colonial powers like
France and the UK or global powers like the United States or China come with
strings attached one way or another.’
Although deals in nuclear
energy, oil, gas, agriculture, and diamonds took a prominent place, two of the
main attractions for African heads of state were military cooperation and
military hardware, Quartz reported.
It added, ‘Russia, which is
the second largest supplier of arms in the world, is already a major supplier
of arms to African countries.’
Swaziland is a desperately poor kingdom where seven in
ten of the estimated 1.3 million population have incomes less than the
equivalent of US$2 per day. Military spending by Swaziland, according to
estimates published by the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI), for the current year is expected to reach US$87.8
million (E1.3bn in local currency). For 2017, spending was estimated at US$88.7
million and for 2016, US$86.3 million.
The figures amount to about 1.5 percent of Swaziland’s
total gross domestic product (GDP).
SIPRI states military expenditure data is based on open sources only, meaning on publicly available data. The true figure might be higher.
SIPRI states military expenditure data is based on open sources only, meaning on publicly available data. The true figure might be higher.
The high military spending comes at a time when
Swaziland is broke. In the 2018 national budget all government job recruiting was
frozen. It was announced Value
Added Tax would go up by 1 percent to 15 percent and there was a plan to
try to impose VAT on electricity tariffs for the first time. Pensions for
people aged 60 and over were frozen.
Swaziland which is not a democracy has been criticised
for many years for the way state forces oppress the people. Political parties
are banned from taking part in elections and groups that advocate for democracy
are outlawed under the Suppression
of Terrorism Act. Swaziland is a landlocked country and has no disputes
with neighbours.
The Open
Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) at the African Commission
on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) meeting in The Gambia in 2013 said the
King was turning Swaziland into a ‘military state’.
In a report OSISA said,
‘There are also reliable reports of a general militarization of the country
through the deployment of the Swazi army, police and correctional services to
clamp down on any peaceful protest action by labour or civil society
organisations ahead of the country’s undemocratic elections.’
In 2009, the Swazi Government was revealed to be engaged
in arms dealing by the United States. A diplomatic cable written by Maurice
Parker, the then US Ambassador to Swaziland, and later published by WikiLeaks,
revealed that the UK Government had blocked an arms deal between a UK company
Unionlet and the Swaziland Government because it feared their ‘possible use for
internal repression’.
The Swazi Government wanted to buy equipment worth
US$60 million.
Among items listed for purchase were, ‘3 Bell Model
UH-1H helicopters, FN Herstal 7.6251mm Minimi light machine guns, blank and
tracer ammunition, armored personnel carriers, command and control vehicles
including one fitted with a 12.7x99mm M2 Browning heavy machine gun and others
fitted with the FN Herstal light machine guns, military ambulances, armored
repair and recovery vehicles, weapon sights, military image intensifier
equipment, optical target surveillance equipment, 620 Heckler & Koch G36E
assault rifles, 240 Heckler & Koch G36K assault rifles, 65 Heckler &
Koch G36E rifles, 75 Heckler & Koch UMP submachine guns 9x19mm, and 35
Heckler & Koch USP semi-automatic pistols’.
The Swaziland Government said it wanted the items to
fulfil its United Nations ‘peacekeeping’ obligations in Africa.
The UK Government did not believe it and thought
either the weapons would be used against the Swazi civilian population, or they
were being bought in order to sell on to another country, possibly Iran. The UK
Government blocked the deal.
In his diplomatic cable, Parker said, ‘The array of
weapons requested would not be needed for the first phases of peacekeeping,
although it is possible someone tried to convince the Swazi government they
were required. The GKOS [Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland] may have been
attempting to build up domestic capability to deal with unrest, or was possibly
acting as an intermediary for a third party such as Zimbabwe or a Middle
Eastern country that had cash, diamonds or goods to trade.’
See also
Swaziland’s massive military spending
Swazi
‘secret arms deal for Iran’
Swaziland
‘becoming military state’
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/swaziland-becoming-military-state.html
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