SWAZI KING SACKS PARTY PLOTTERS

To nobody’s great surprise Mathendele Dlamini, a member of King Mswati III’s advisory council Liqoqo, and Sam Mkhombe, the King’s Private Secretary, have been fired for their part in trying to re-form the Imbokodvo National Movement (INM).

The pair were called to Lozitha yesterday (27 January 2011) and given the boot. They had previously been suspended on the instructions of the King, pending an investigation.

The two men were said to have been trying to revive the defunct IMN, a party created by King Mswati’s father, King Sobhuza II, as a front for the Royal Family’s interests. King Sobhuza banned all political parties in 1973 and they have remained banned ever since.

The King’s supporters are saying that the pair were sacked because they used the name of the King in their attempts to get people to join the INM. Dlamini and Mkhombe reportedly said they had the King’s permission to reform the party.

The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) in a statement said Dlamini and Mkhombe had tried to revive the INM, which it described as a ‘royal instrument of constitutional subversion’.

SSN said, ‘After having met with very influential members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the two were privy to the fact that Swaziland could no longer be taken seriously under the prevailing political system. The pressure to unban political parties has mounted to inescapable levels. As a result they sought to respond to this by being proactive and laying the groundwork for their king to have something to fall on when political parties are finally unbanned.

‘It was also out of personal ambitions for power because this program was not first discussed with the man in charge. Yet again, given his [the King’s] state of mind lately who can blame them for that?’

SSN said the two men were later stabbed in the back and reported to King Mswati. SSN said, ‘... King Mswati saw nothing but a ploy to remove him from power in this plan. As a result he suspended them pending investigations and then eventually fired them.’

Meanwhile, Vincent Ncongwane, Secretary-General of the Swaziland Federation of Labour, said the firing of Dlamini and Mkhombe was meant to scare people off forming political parties.

He told the Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom, there were civil servants who belong to political parties who would now fear coming out to the open.

He said, ‘It means we are still far from political parties. Why is a person fired for talking about reviving a political party if that is the real reason they have been fired? The Attorney General said political parties had not been banned, so why fire these people for talking about the revival of Imbokodvo?’

He told the Times people should however have no fear. ‘It will be foolhardy to think that the 2013 elections will be held under the current system of governance. People will demand political parties,’ he said.

SWAZILAND KING IS RUNNING SCARED

The Swazi traditionalists have been quick to put the boot in following reports that the Imbokodvo National Movement political party was to reform.

As is becomes clear that King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, can no longer be sure who his friends are, Sam Mkhombe, his Private Secretary and Mathendele Dlamini, a member of the King’s shady advisory council, Liqoqo,were hauled before a kangaroo court at Lozitha Royal Palace yesterday (11 January 2011) on suspicion that they were leaders in what traditionalists believe is a plot against the King.

The Board of Royal Trustees suspended both men from their jobs on full pay indefinitely. Dlamini has only been suspended as a member of Liqoqo and his duties on the committee and not from other responsibilities, such as his work with the African Union, according to the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned and edited by King Mswati.

The move came after a news report that meetings had been held to discuss the possibility of reforming the Imbokodvo National Movement. The party - a front for the Swazi Royal Family - was banned, along with all other political parties in 1973. All parties remain banned in Swaziland.

The swift move to act against the so-called plotters reveals how nervous the King of Swaziland is. Imbokodvo was not a party of the people. It was set up by King Sobhuza II and Liqoqo and wanted to keep power and wealth (including valuable mineral rights) in the hands of the King.

There is no suggestion that the reformed Imbokodvo would be anything but a slavish supporter of the present King.

However, King Mswati is under intense pressure at the moment and can no longer be sure who his loyal supporters are. Yesterday, I reported that Lutfo Dlamini, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, assumed to be among the most loyal of the King’s supporters, was involved in a corruption scam that may have netted him and his co-conspirators US$ 1 million that was intended for the King.

In August 2010, another of the King’s supposed friends and allies, Ndumiso Mamba, the then Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, was discovered in an adulterous relationship with one of the King’s wives.

The King is now watching his back and jumping at shadows. We haven’t heard the last of this.