The Swaziland (eSwatini) Government will monitor the
United States Ambassador to the kingdom and other senior foreign diplomats to
see how well they ‘market’ the kingdom, if Senator Thuli Dladla, Minister of
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, gets her way.
Dladla wants a ‘scorecard’ to be kept for each
ambassador based on how many investors they bring into the kingdom.
The Minister made her remarks in the House of Assembly
after several members criticised
a speech made by Lisa Peterson, the US Ambassador to Swaziland.
Peterson
had criticised the absolute monarch King Mswati III for
his lavish
spending on luxury Rolls-Royce and BMW cars.
He had bought at least 15 Rolls-Royce cars for his wives and the government,
which he personally appointed, bought a total of 126 BMW cars and motorbikes,
for escort duties.
It had earlier been reported by the online newspaper
the Swaziland
News that Ambassador Peterson and other
ambassadors were now under police surveillance.
Dladla told the House all ambassadors accredited to
the kingdom would be called in for a meeting, the
Times of eSwatini reported.
The Times added, ‘The minister said there would
be score cards for ambassadors based on how many investors they managed to
bring into the country, including how well they marketed the kingdom from the
various stations.’
Later a US Embassy spokesperson said, Ambassador
Peterson’s remarks were guided by principles of the eSwatini Constitution that allowed
for freedom of expression.
See also
Threat
to censor U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland after criticism of King’s lavish
spending
King
of impoverished Swaziland takes delivery of 79 luxury BMW cars worth US$6
million
U.S.
Ambassador calls for repeal of decree that makes Swaziland an absolute monarchy
No comments:
Post a Comment