Only two months after King Mswati III, the absolute
monarch of Swaziland (eSwatini), spent E53 million on a fleet of Rolls-Royce
cars for himself and members of his family the European Union has announced it
will give Euro 1 Million (E16 million) in aid for the hungry because the
kingdom cannot feed its own people.
About 232,000 people (25 percent of the rural
population) are expected to experience
severe acute food insecurity, according to the Integrated
Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
A statement from the European Commission said the
money was to help people affected by drought to get food. European Union Ambassador
to Swaziland Esmerelda Hernandez Aragones said areas in the Lubombo, Hhohho and
Shiselweni regions would get the money.
Swaziland takes humanitarian aid from a number of
different countries although it is not officially a poor country. It is designated
a ‘lower middle
income’ nation by the World Bank.
The situation in Swaziland is that the King and his
family drain resources for themselves. Their lavish spending has
been reported and criticised by international agencies for many years.
The King takes 25 percent of all mining royalties and
controls the profits of the conglomerate Tibiyo TakaNgwane. Officially he keeps
these monies ‘in trust’ for the Swazi nation, but in reality much of it goes to
fund his own lifestyle.
He has two private airplanes, at least 13 palaces and
fleets of top-of-the-range cars. At his 50th birthday in 2018 he
wore a watch
worth US$1.6 million and a suit
beaded with diamonds that weighed 6 kg. 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.
King Mswati once again made international news in November
2019 when he
bought 15 Rolls-Royce cars for himself and his family. Days later the
government that he personally appointed took delivery of 84
BMW cars and 42 BMW motorbikes, which were reportedly for ‘escort duties’.
After the purchases, Lisa Peterson, United State
Ambassador to Swaziland, in a public speech, said, ‘As a
development partner, I have serious concerns about the leadership example
currently coming out of the palace.’
She added, ‘While the government continued using its existing vehicle
fleet, the palace sees fit to acquire more than a dozen Rolls-Royce
vehicles with a minimum price tag of US$3.71 million (E53 million). To
accompany this royal fleet, there is now an even larger fleet of official
escort vehicles, purchased with public funds.’
She said, ‘It is exceedingly difficult for development partners to
continue advocating for assistance to eSwatini when such profligate
spending or suspicious giving is taking place.’
An official transcript of the speech issued by the US Embassy in Swaziland, reported her saying, ‘Should the people of eSwatini really be comfortable with such disregard for the perilous fiscal state of the country, particularly with so many of His Majesty’s subjects living below the international poverty line?’
An official transcript of the speech issued by the US Embassy in Swaziland, reported her saying, ‘Should the people of eSwatini really be comfortable with such disregard for the perilous fiscal state of the country, particularly with so many of His Majesty’s subjects living below the international poverty line?’
Ambassador Peterson had previously criticised the absolute monarchy in
Swaziland. In
an article published in November 2018 by both of Swaziland’s two national
daily newspapers she called for the decree that puts King Mswati in power as an
absolute monarch to be repealed. She also called for political parties to be
allowed to contest elections.
In 2016, after reports that three of the King’s wives had taken an entourage
of 100 people on a shopping trip to Toronto, Canada, Peterson warned Swaziland
that the kingdom might not receive further food aid from her country because of
the King’s ‘lavish spending’ on holidays.
News24
in South Africa reported at the time Peterson said the US had limited funds
for drought relief. She said, ‘When we hear of the lavish spending by the Swazi
royal family – especially while a third of their citizens need food aid – it
becomes difficult to encourage our government to make more emergency aid
available. You can’t expect international donors to give more money to the
citizens of Swaziland than their own leaders give them.’
See also
Oxfam
names Swaziland most unequal country in Africa on personal income
No let up
on poverty in Swaziland as absolute King makes public display of his vast
wealth
Lavish
spending leads to food aid cut
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