EU ‘UNDERMINES FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY’

EU sugar-coats absolute monarchy’s bitter pill

Kenworthy News Media, 27 November 2017

SOURCE

European Union-support for Swaziland’s monarchy-controlled sugar industry undermines the fight for democracy, even though it nominally benefits smallholders, says a new report from a Danish solidarity organization, writes Kenworthy News Media.

A new report from Afrika Kontakt commends the EU for supporting Swaziland’s sugar industry, which benefits thousands of smallholder growers of sugar cane. The problem is, however, that the smallholder growers are also left vulnerable by sugar price fluctuations and transport costs, as well as by the corruption and undermining of the fight for democracy, that EU-support for Swaziland’s sugar industry, healthcare and education systems allows.

The report is based on extensive research in Swaziland, including field studies and interviews with most actors in Swaziland’s sugar industry.

Support ends up in king’s pocket

Despite Swaziland being a small country with a population of just under 1.3 million; it is nevertheless Africa’s fourth largest sugar producer. The sugar industry employs 16 percent of the adult population in a country where unemployment is close to 30 percent, and is thus the country’s most important industry.

Swaziland is not a democracy by any definition of the word, even though elections are held every five years, the report insists, but in fact an absolute monarchy. The country spends more money on security than health, and six percent of its budget goes towards maintenance of the king’s household. It is also the most unequal country in the world, with the highest HIV-prevalence and the lowest life expectancy in the world.

“There are strong political powers that have little or no interest in changing the undemocratic nature of Swaziland. Support to the sugar industry, in the way that it is currently conducted, will therefore unavoidably and primarily end up supporting the royal family and thus undermine the democratic forces in the country,” the report says.

Demand democratic reform

As one of Swaziland’s main trading partners, who spends millions of Euros every year on development aid to Swaziland, the EU is actually in a position to demand democratic change in Swaziland, however, one of the authors of the report, Klaus Stig Kristensen from Afrika Kontakt says.

“Swaziland is a de facto dictatorship and it is difficult to ensure that international support doesn’t end up lining the pockets of King Mswati and his family. Tough measures are needed to avoid this, including demands for democratic reform and monitoring of these demands.  And if these demands not met there should be consequences, such as suspending development aid to Swaziland,” says Kristensen.

His report recommends that the EU support the democratic movement fighting for change, including illegal political parties, unions and right-based groups.

The EU should also demand that Swaziland, as a country without external enemies, spends less on security and more on the welfare of its impoverished population, and condemn Swaziland’s lack of compliance with its international rights-based obligations.

Afrika Kontakt has run development projects with Swazi civil society organisations for a decade.   

READ THE REPORT HERE

See also

SWAZI SUGAR WORKERS EXPLOITED

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/swazi-sugar-workers-exploited.html

MORE WORKERS JOIN SUGARCANE UNION

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/more-workers-join-sugarcane-union.html

HUMAN SUFFERING AND SWAZI SUGAR

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/human-suffering-and-swazi-sugar.html

KING EXPLOITS SUGAR WORKERS

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/king-exploits-sugar-workers.html

 

SUGAR STRIKERS WIN PAY INCREASE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/sugar-strikers-win-pay-increase.html

POLICE CLASH WITH SUGAR STRIKERS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/police-clash-with-sugar-strikers.html

 

RELEASED INTO THE BIG SWAZI PRISON

Kenworthy News Media, 15 July 2015

SOURCE

After having spent over a year in prison awaiting trial for having shouted pro-democracy slogans, pro-democracy leaders Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini were granted bail Tuesday (14 July 2015) in the small absolute monarchy of Swaziland, writes Kenworthy News Media.

Masuku and Dlamini, both high-ranking members of banned pro-democracy party the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), are charged under Swaziland’s Suppression of Terrorism Act, an act that Amnesty International calls “inherently repressive”. They have previously applied for bail twice without success. 

Pressure led to release

Mounting pressure for their release, combined with a crisis in the judiciary in Swaziland that has led to the sacking of the Chief Justice and the Minister of Justice and the subsequent release of two other pro-democracy advocates in June, may have paved the way for Masuku and Dlamini having been granted bail.

An international campaign for their release is supported by amongst others Amnesty International, the ANC, the Swaziland United Democratic Front, the International Trade Union Confederation as well as former anti-apartheid organisations ACTSA and Afrika Kontakt from the UK and Denmark respectively.

The Danish embassy, the UK Foreign Office and the Commenwealth have also raised the matter of Masuku and Dlamini’s case and imprisonment with the Swazi government, as has the former Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mogens Lykketoft, who will be the next President of the UN General Assembly.

Suffered more than enough

According to Swazi trade union leader Wonder Mkhonza, who knows both Masuku and Dlamini personally, they have already suffered more than enough in prison. “No one deserves such treatment”, he says.

Mario Masuku, who suffers from diabetes, has been seriously ill during his prison spell, but has been denied proper treatment. Maxwell Dlamini has previously been tortured by police while detained, and was receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of his arrest in 2014.

Both have had to sleep on the floor in a small cell with as many as 35 other inmates.

Into the big prison

Although Masuku and Dlamini have now been released on bail, they still face the challenge of what Mario Masuku has called “the big prison that is Swaziland”.

These challenges include debilitating bail payments and legal expenses, gruelling bail conditions and continuous harassment of anyone who challenges the rule of absolute monarch Mswati III.

See also

DEMOCRACY LEADERS FREED ON BAIL

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/democracy-leaders-freed-on-bail.html

WORKING FOR DEMOCRACY IN SWAZILAND

Democracy on a silver plate 

Kenworthy News Media, 1 July 2015 

SOURCE

“When we got our independence from the UK in 1968 it was given to us on a silver plate. The people of Swaziland didn’t understand or have to fight for their democracy”, Linus Mavimbela tells me. Five years after independence, the Swazi king introduced a state of emergency, banned all political parties, and turned Swaziland into a repressive absolute monarchy, writes Kenworthy News Media.

Linus Mavimbela is a leading member of the People’s United Democratic Movement in Swaziland. He was in Copenhagen to follow the Danish elections that were held on June 18 [2015], invited by the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy and the Danish political party The Red-Green Alliance.

Politicians are servants, not masters

Amongst other things, Linus Mavimbela visited poll stations and joined the campaign tour of Red-Green Alliance MP Christian Juhl. He was above all impressed with the humility of the Danish politicians.

“You can see that Danish politicians are servants, whereas in much of Africa they are masters. Christian, in his campaign, responded to even the smallest communities and took the time to answer all questions honestly and patiently. And the Danish PM graciously accepted losing the election, which is rarely something you see in Africa”, he says.

Democracy cannot be transplanted

But Denmark is after all one of the richest countries in the world. In Swaziland, on the other hand, most of the population live in the rural areas, and two thirds of Swazis survive on less than a dollar a day. This state of affairs is kept in place by the fact that absolute monarch Mswati III has banned political parties, imprisons and tortures dissidents and generally controls all aspects of Swazi society, says Linus Mavimbela .

He therefore doesn’t believe that democracy can be transplanted wholesale from Denmark to Swaziland.

“The heart of what is wrong in Swaziland is lack of democracy, but if you look at the Danish and Swazi systems, there is nothing that we can immediately use. However, not all that long ago Denmark was also an absolute monarchy just like Swaziland, which shows that there is hope for us too”, he says.

Participants not spectators

Linus Mavimbela believes that democracy must be fought for and practised on a practical level as well as theoretically, and with the population at large as participants, not spectators.

“It is very important that the people of Swaziland understand the value of democracy. But it is equally important that that we build institutions and organisations that ingrain democracy in them and continue the debate about democracy after it has been won. When the people have experienced democracy hands-on they will defend it”, he says.

Win from within

But it is one thing to prepare for democracy by civic education and other means, which has been an ongoing process in Swaziland for many years and which is a necessary precondition for any successful democratisation. Actually winning the struggle against a brutal dictatorship is a different and a more dangerous matter altogether, says Linus Mavimbela.

“We therefore have to engage the regime from all angles. We need more pressure from the international community and governments such as the Danish and other EU governments on issues such as human rights abuses and lack of democracy, for sure. But in the end you can only do so much. We need to fight more vigorously to also win the struggle from within – also to show the international community that we are serious about democracy and worth supporting”, he says.

Danish support

Looking out of his hotel window on the vibrant if cool Copenhagen summer evening, Linus tells me that he is happy that Denmark is in fact doing a lot for the cause of democracy in Swaziland already.

“I hope that one day soon we will be able to repay the Danes by turning Swaziland into a democratic state. But as is the case all over the world, democracy is never granted or given. It must be taken and then fought for every day.”

SUPPORT FOR JAILED DEMOCRAT LEADER

Danish political support for Mario Masuku

Kenworthy News Media, 20 January 2015

SOURCE

 

Former Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Danish Parliament, Mogens Lykketoft, has signed a petition that demands the release of imprisoned Swazi political leader Mario Masuku, writes Kenworthy News Media.

“I support the appeal for the immediate release of Mario Masuku and his colleague [student leader Maxwell Dlamini]. I have met with Mario Masuku in Copenhagen as President of the Danish Parliament. He is fighting for democracy and human rights in Swaziland. I urge Denmark and the EU, together with South Africa, to ensure their immediate release so that they can resume their political work”, Mogens Lykketoft said in a statement.

Hundreds of other organisations and individuals, including the South African ruling ANC party, the International Trade Union Confederation and Britain’s largest trade union UNISON, have supported the campaign instigated by Danish solidarity organization Africa Contact and signed the appeal.

The Danish ambassador to South Africa and Swaziland last year raised the question of the trial of Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini with Swaziland’s government and absolute monarch King Mswati III.

Mario Masuku is the president of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), a political party that fights for democracy in Africa’s last absolute monarchy. He is charged under an anti-terrorism bill that Amnesty International has called “inherently repressive” for having shouted “viva PUDEMO” and criticized the government in a speech on Mayday last year. If convicted he could serve up to 15 years in prison.

Masuku suffers from arthritis and diabetes. Whilst in prison, he has contracted pneumonia and a life-threatening infection in his left foot. He has been denied bail on two separate occasions.

Mogens Lykketoft has met with Mario Masuku on two occasions; in the Danish parliament and in Johannesburg. He has also awarded Masuku a democracy prize in the Danish Parliament in 2010.

Mogens Lykketoft was the leader of the Danish Social Democratic Party between 2002 and 2005 and has served as Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Finance Minister and Taxation Minister.. He is the current President of the Danish parliament, and will be formally appointed as the next President of the United Nations General Assembly on 15. September 2015.

See also

PETITION TO FREE PUDEMO LEADER

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/01/petition-to-free-pudemo-leader.html

DENMARK QUESTIONS KING ON RIGHTS

Denmark questions Mswati on human rights
 

Kenworthy News Media, 27 October 2014 

SOURCE

Denmark has raised the questions of political freedom, human rights, and the trial of political activists Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini with Swaziland’s government and absolute monarch King Mswati III, Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Martin Lidegaard told the Danish Foreign Affairs Committee last Wednesday (22 October 2014), writes Kenworthy News Media.

“Denmark has continuously raised the question of political freedom with Swaziland, most recently on the 5th of June 2014, when the Danish ambassador held political talks in the capital Mbabane with, amongst others, king Mswati III and [then] Minister of Foreign Affairs Mgwagwa Gamedze”, said Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Martin Lidegaard.

During the meeting with the king, the Danish ambassador urged Swaziland to comply with the demands of the ongoing AGOA-negotiations, which should include the adaption of laws such as Swaziland’s Suppression of Terrorism Act, a bill that Amnesty International has called “inherently repressive”.

Mario and Maxwell
“Such adaptions would particularly benefit the media, human rights defenders, and the political opposition in Swaziland, including Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini”, Martin Lidegaard said. “The trial of Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini was also brought up during the recently held political consultations between the EU and Swaziland on the 2nd and 3rd of October regarding the Cotonou Agreement, at the request of the Danish Ambassador”.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs was replying to questions posed by Danish MP for the Red-Green Alliance, Christian Juhl regarding human rights violations in Swaziland, specifically in reference to the trial of Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini.

Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini face terrorism charges under Swaziland’s Suppression of Terrorism Act and could serve 15 years in prison for criticizing Swaziland’s absolute monarchy and expressing support for pro-democracy party the People’s United Democratic Front (PUDEMO) on Mayday.

Masuku is the PUDEMO President and Dlamini the Secretary General of PUDEMO’s youth league, SWAYOCO. They have been remanded in prison since their arrest on Mayday, having had several applications for bail turned down. Masuku has contracted pneumonia in prison which has been exacerbated by his diabetic condition and led to drastic weight loss and poor eye sight.

Stronger pressure on Swaziland
The imprisonment and trial of Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini has been heavily criticised, both in Denmark, where solidarity organization Africa Contact and the Red-Green Alliance have campaigned for their release, and abroad.

Danish Chairman of the Parliament and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mogens Lykketoft, who met with Mario Masuku in his office in the Danish Parliament last year, has supported the calls for their release and called for “stronger pressure” on Swaziland “regarding freedom of speech and organization”.

And in a letter to king Mswati, an array of other individuals and organisations such as Desmond Tutu, Freedom House, Freedom of Expression Institute in South Africa, Front Line Defenders, and Southern Africa Litigation Centre called for the release of political prisoners in Swaziland, including Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini.

“We call upon you to order the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience and political prisoners detained in Swaziland,” the letter stated, urging Swaziland’s government to “begin meaningful discussions with the growing number of citizens and independent organizations that are demanding their basic freedoms and calling for democratic reform in Swaziland.”

DANES SUPPORT JAILED SWAZI ACTIVISTS

Danish party supports Mario and Maxwell

 

Kenworthy News Media, 17 June, 2014 

Danish democratic socialist party, the Red-Green Alliance, on Monday (16 June 2014) sent a statement of support for two imprisoned democracy advocates to Swaziland’s government, writes Kenworthy News Media.

President of the pro-democracy party, the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Mario Masuku, and youth leader Maxwell were arrested on May Day, and subsequently charged with sedition – Masuku for expressing support for his own organization in a speech, Dlamini for allegedly shouting “viva PUDEMO”. They have been in prison since then, as they were denied bail.

Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini were remanded in custody until September 24, 2014 during yesterday’s court session, as their lawyer Leo Gama applied for a postponement of the case to enable the pair’s legal team to challenge the Suppression of Terrorism Act No.3 of 2008 that they are charged under.

Swaziland is in effect an absolute monarchy, although the country holds general elections. These elections were heavily criticized by the Commonwealth Observer Mission, who monitored last years’ election. Amongst other things because all parties are banned and the king chooses the Prime Minister, the government, a large proportion of the senators, and in effect wields a large influence over the election of MP’s through a chief-controlled system, as well as the legal system.

Over two thirds of the Swazi population survives on under a dollar a day, many on food aid from the United Nations.

—

Read the full statement below:

Statement of support in the trial of Swazi democracy advocates Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini
The Red-Green Alliance party, Denmark, 16. June 2014

Mario Masuku, President of the pro-democracy People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) in Swaziland, and PUDEMO youth league Secretary General and student leader, Maxwell Dlamini, were arrested and imprisoned on May Day. They have since have been charged with sedition, and for contravening the Swazi Suppression of Terrorism Act, for giving support to a “terrorist entity” – PUDEMO. They will appear in court today, 16. June.

Mario Masuku had delivered a speech to the Swazi trade union confederation TUCOSWA where he merely expressed support for his organization, PUDEMO. Maxwell Dlamini had allegedly sung a song that included the words “the king must go”, and both had allegedly shouted “viva PUDEMO” together with the thousands of others who had gathered to show their dissatisfaction with king Mswati III’s absolute monarchy, that has left two thirds of the population in absolute poverty whilst a small elite live in luxury. They have both been refused bail.

The Red-Green Alliance wishes to extend these two comrades our full and unequivocal support, and want to state clearly that we believe that such preposterous charges prove that the Swazi regime simply wishes to lock up anyone who questions its undemocratic rule, however peacefully.

Today, 38 years ago, thousands of students like Maxwell Dlamini, who were equally tired of being oppressed by an unjust and divisive political system, revolted in Soweto in apartheid-South Africa. They eventually prevailed, amongst other means by winning the support of the international community.

People in Swaziland are simply asking the Danish government, and other governments and NGO’s, to support Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini in their struggle for democracy and socio-economic justice.

The arrest of Masuku and Dlamini follows the arrests of, amongst others, PUDEMO’s Secretary General, Mlungisi Makhanya, who was arrested along with six other members of the organization for wearing a T-shirt with PUDEMO’s logo at a trial.

The arrests have been condemned by, amongst others, the South African trade union federation COSATU, in a press release that described Swaziland as “one big national prison”.

Mario Masuku and Maxwell Dlamini have been arrested on questionable charges several times before, and Maxwell Dlamini claims to have been tortured by the police in 2011. He was receiving treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Signed
The Red-Green Alliance

The Red-Green Alliance is a democratic socialist party which aims to combine politics for social change with politics for solving the great environmental problems both on national and international level.

The Red-Green Alliance has, for several years now, been in a project partnership with PUDEMO that seeks to assist the organization in the achievement of its ultimate goal – achieving democracy and socio-economic justice for all Swazis.

PUDEMO FOLLOWS DANISH ELECTIONS

PUDEMO follows Danish municipal elections

Kenworthy News Media, 22 November 2013

SOURCE

“I am surprised that Danish political parties are always looking for consensus. The ownership and respect for the process by the Danish people shows – why can’t we learn from that. We come from the old British political system where we are always contesting.” The President of Swaziland’s largest political party, the People’s United Democratic Movement, Mario Masuku, is speaking from a polling station in Gladsaxe, a suburb of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, writes Kenworthy News Media.

Together with PUDEMO’s Organising Secretary, Wonder Mkhonta, he visited Denmark this week to follow the municipal elections. The two Swazis were invited by the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy and the Danish political party the Red-Green Alliance.

They come from Swaziland, a corrupt and poverty-stricken absolute monarchy, where King Mswati III rules with an iron-fist, and where everyone who questions his rule is deemed to be a terrorist. Something that Masuku and Mkhonta have personally experienced on several occasions, where they have been harassed and brutalised by police or locked up for as long as a year on spurious charges of terrorism or possession of political pamphlets, only to be released after farcical court sessions.

During their stay Masuku and Mkhonta met with several Danish politicians, including Copenhagen deputy Mayor for Social Issues Mikkel Warming, Gladsaxe Mayor Karin Søjberg Holst, and Danish MP for the Red Green Alliance Nikolaj Villumsen, and followed the election process from the opening of the polls to the counting of ballots.

And the two Swazis were impressed with what they saw. “The life of the Danish people is rooted at the local political level, says Masuku. “The elections are well-organised, transparent, accountable, without animosity towards other people’s parties, and there is no corruption or very little, because all the political parties are committed to working together.”

“In Swaziland, on the other hand, the local authorities do not have the capacity to implement their own policies because the king is in control of everything,” he continues. “It is impossible to implement anything even at the local level.”

But as Masuku discussed with the Danish politicians, transplanting a democratic system and tradition from one country, such as Denmark, to another, such as Swaziland, is not a straightforward process. “The problem of comparing Denmark and Swaziland is that Denmark is a democracy and Swaziland is a dictatorship. We cannot copy-paste all from the Danish system,” he insisted.

“One of the things that have made the Danish system and political environment strong is the social welfare system,” Mario Masuku concludes.  “The people in Denmark believe in this system they live it, and it is part and parcel of Denmark. I believe we need something like this in Swaziland.”