Ambrose Dlamini, the unelected Prime Minister of
Swaziland (eSwatini), has
announced the House of Assembly decision to suspend a
controversial law has been overturned.
He said the Swazi parliament had no right to demand an
amendment to the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 2018 (POCA).
POCA had been controversial because police and
security forces in Swaziland which is ruled by King Mswati III as an absolute
monarch were using it to attack illegal dagga (cannabis) growers.
In
a statement on Friday (24 July 2020) Dlamini said the
offices of the Prime Minister, Speaker, Minister of Justice and Constitutional
Affairs, Attorney General and House of Assembly Sessional Committee together decided
a resolution to suspend POCA was ineffective because proper constitutional
channels had not been followed.
The law led to a public outcry after reports that the
state was seizing private properties owned by dagga farmers. The House of
Assembly through a motion moved by Hosea MP Mduduzi Mabuza
adopted a resolution to suspend the law. It wanted Justice Minister Pholile
Dlamini Shakantu to prepare an amendment to the act.
POCA was designed to fight corruption and organised
crime through asset recovery.
However, POCA did not only target illegal dagga
farmers. In 2019 the Asset Recovery Unit in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional
Affairs, reported it had seized or preserved assets worth more than E5 million,
since the act came into force. In addition to cash, assets seized included 18
vehicles, liquor, cigarettes and houses in urban and rural areas.
See also
Rapes
double in three months in Swaziland, violent crime on steady increase
More
crime fears in Swaziland
Public
sector corruption in Swaziland getting worse, Transparency International report
suggests
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