KING’S ‘ABDUCTION’ OF SCHOOLGIRL

The case of Swaziland’s King Mswati III’s alleged abduction of an 18-year-old schoolgirl to be his bride has resurfaced in the kingdom 12 years after the event as a local newspaper reported that a former attorney-general was to face a sedition charge for allowing a court case against the King to proceed.

The case dates from 2002 when the King ordered the Swazi High Court to drop a case brought against himself alleging that he had ordered the kidnapping of the teenager so that she could become his bride.

Reports at the time could not agree whether she would become his 10^th or his 11^th bride. In 2014, the King, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is believed to have at least 14 wives.

International news media reported at the time that widow and single mother Lindiwe Dhlamini, 39, had provoked the challenge to the King by not accepting the kidnapping of her daughter, Zena Mahlangu, who was taken away by agents of the King on 9 October 2002. Ms Dhlamini went to court to demand that King Mswati return Zena to her.

The Afrol news agency reported, ‘Putting such a case to the courts is unheard of in Swaziland, where the playboy King merely follows tradition when abducting virgins to see whether they please him and eventually may marry them. Mswati has already married nine Swazi girls in this way. Nevertheless, there is no legal basis for these abductions, not even in Swaziland.’

The IRIN news agency reported in 2002 that Chief Justice Stanley Sapire agreed that court papers filed by Mahlangu’s mother indicated she was abducted. At a hearing presided over by a full bench of High Court Judges, including Justices Josiah Matsebula and Thomas Masuku, he asked, ‘I want to know what happens in a case where something is sanctioned by customary law yet it is a crime under common law.’

IRIN continued, ‘The Swazi King and Queen Mother cannot be sued, arrested or prosecuted. The lawsuit filed by Mahlangu’s mother seeking the return of her daughter names the two men who took her away from school. The strategy of government as stated in the Attorney-General’s affidavit is to have King Mswati named as defendant.’ [If the King were named as defendant the case would not be able to continue as he is immune from prosecution.]

‘“(The plaintiff) seeks an order that the two (defendants) return the child forthwith, yet it is clear they were agents of the Royal Kraal. This was cowardly of the applicants. Their attacking the messengers is clear cowardice. The Ingwenyama (King) must be joined in the matter because it is clear he is the principal,” stated the Attorney-General.’

The Swazi Observer reported on Tuesday (21 October 2014) that the Attorney-General at the time Phesheya Dlamini was now to be tried for sedition, obstructing the course of justice and contempt of court.

The newspaper, which is in effect owned by King Mswati, did not report that the King himself was the subject of the court case in question.

The Observer reported the case emanated from a letter dated 1 November, 2002, which the former AG had addressed to then Chief Justice Stanley Sapire, Justices Jacobus Annandale and Stanley Maphalala.

The newspaper reported, ‘Dlamini, in the letter, informed the three presiding justices that they were free to proceed with the case in question, but should tender their resignations immediately upon handing down judgment on this matter.

‘This was after the former AG, in the company of army commander Major General Sobantu Dlamini, Commissioner of Police Edgar Hillary, as he then was, and Commissioner of Correctional Services Mnguni Simelane, as he then was, had informed the three judges in an impromptu meeting that they should drop the case because it had tarnished the image of the country internationally or resign.’

News reports in 2002 said the judges continued to hear the case as scheduled and in open court the Chief Justice stated that they would preside over the case despite the threat which had been issued against them.

At the time, the AG’s action was seen in some quarters as an assault on the rule of law in Swaziland.

The court case was halted when the 18-year-old schoolgirl announced that she wanted to marry the King.

Within weeks King Mswati sacked Chief Justice Stanley Sapire for ignoring his decree to drop the case.

Phesheya Dlamini was also removed from office and he became a diplomat. He is presently Swaziland’s High Commissioner to South Africa.

In a twist to the story, the Times of Swaziland, the only daily newspaper rival to the Observer, published a report saying there was no intention to prosecute Dlamini for sedition. On Wednesday (22 October 2014), it reported Registrar of the High Court Fikile Nhlabatsi saying the Observer’s story was not true. 

The Times reported, ‘According to impeccable sources, the matter was erroneously included in the over 200 old cases that were recently recalled by the High Court.’

It said the matter was long withdrawn and it is not in the roll of cases to be heard at the High Court.

CASH SCANDAL AT KUWAIT EMBASSY

Cash amounting to nearly E1.1 million (US$143,000) has gone unaccounted for at Swaziland’s embassy in Kuwait, putting the spotlight back on Phesheya Dlamini, who was recalled as ambassador in 2010.

The Acting Swaziland Auditor General Phestecia Nxumalo, in a report found that E434,000 of ‘petty cash’ and E654, 000 in the ambassador’s travel allowances could not be accounted for. The ‘petty cash’ went missing over a three-month period in 2009. The report was for the year ended 31 March 2011.

The A-G’s report was revealed by the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper. It said the A-G found receipts for the expenditure were not available and this was illegal.

The newspaper did not reveal that in 2010 Dlamini was recalled from Kuwait to Swaziland amid accusations of his implication in a corruption scandal. He reportedly stayed at the top-class Ezulwini Sun, in one of the kingdom’s main tourist spots. According to the Swazi News at the time, he ran up a bill close to E100,000 (about US$10,000) .

Lutfo Dlamini, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, was also implicated in the corruption scandal.

At the time the Swaziland Solidarity Network reported that both men had been accused of stealing money from the Kuwaiti Royal Family intended for King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. The Swaziland Police were called in, but no official announcement of what they did was given. It is known that police were sent to pick Lutfo Dlamini up from his parent’s home and escort him to a meeting with Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini.

What happened next is clouded in secrecy. It seems King Maswati ordered both men to be sacked from their jobs, but they were later reinstated, allegedly on the instructions of King Mswati’s mother, causing a rift in the royal household.

Phesheya Dlamini returned to Kuwait. Lutfo Dlamini has since been moved from the Foreign Ministry to Labour and Social Affairs.

See also

AMBASSADOR HARDLY EVER AT WORK

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/ambassador-hardly-ever-at-work.html

PM DUCKS THE LUTFO QUESTION

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/04/pm-ducks-lutfo-question.html

PM DUCKS THE LUTFO QUESTION

Swaziland’s Prime Minister twisted and turned and refused to answer when he was questioned by editors about the antics of Lutfo Dlamini, the Swazi Minster of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Lutfo returned to work after many weeks absence after it was revealed internationally (but not by the media in Swaziland) that he had been sacked for his part in a corruption scandal involving millions of dollars that was sent from the Kuwaiti Royal Family to King Mswati III.

The money never arrived.

Lutfo and the Swaziland Ambassador to Kuwait, Phesheya Dlamini, were hauled before Barnabas Dlamini, the illegally-appointed Prime Minister and sacked.

But, after ructions within the Swazi Royal Family – the king wanted them out, but other factions including the Queen Mother wanted Lutfo to be spared – both men returned to work.

Barnabas Dlamini claimed to the editors at a regular meeting on Friday (1 April 2011) that Lutfo had been on sick leave and that Phesheya had been on three months holiday (nice work if you can get it!).

But, Barnabas Dlamini refused to be questioned on the matter by the editors.

The Swaziland Cabinet ‘is anchored on certain pillars, one of which is secrecy’, the Weekend Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported him saying.

So what’s so secret about a cabinet minister on lengthy sick leave and an ambassador on a long holiday?

The newspaper knows the answer to that as do readers of this blog, but the people of Swaziland will not be told through their local media.

Prime Minister Dlamini summed it up nicely, ‘There are secret matters no matter how transparent one may become. But I can assure the nation that nothing went amiss there. There are, however, some things you can’t discuss publicly.’

Yes, that just about sums up the kingdom ruled by King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch: there are things you can’t discuss publicly in Swaziland.

Which is why we're all on the Internet.

SWAZI PM - COME CLEAN ABOUT LUTFO

Would the Swaziland Government please come clean about Lutfo Dlamini.

Lutfo, the (now ex) Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, was sacked from Cabinet last month (January 2011) after his involvement in a corruption scandal involving money destined for King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, was uncovered.

But no government announcement of this has been made. Instead, we were officially told that Lutfo was off work sick until 31 January 2011.

That date has come and gone and he doesn’t appear to be back at work. The Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported today (9 February 2011), ‘Despite showing up in Parliament on Friday, Minister Dlamini had not reported for duty by Monday.’

Lutfo is cutting a forlorn figure around the Swaziland corridors of power. On Friday he attended the opening of parliament, but did not sit in the front row with cabinet members, ‘even though there were still seats available’, as the Swazi News, an independent newspaper, put it.

The paper reported that Lutfo ‘did not stay for the luncheon and left as soon as the ceremony was over at around 1:30pm.

‘He also did not go into the chambers were diplomats get a chance to greet His Majesty King Mswati III.’

Yesterday, Lutfo ‘mingled around’ with cabinet ministers before the regular weekly cabinet meeting.

According to the Swazi Observer, ‘it could not be ascertained’ whether he actually attended the meeting.

‘Some members of cabinet confirmed that Dlamini was there but refused to comment further,’ the newspaper reported.

But why the reluctance to ‘comment further?’

The Swazi Government’s official spokesperson was no help either. Macanjana Motsa told the Observer, ‘I am also not in a position to state whether the minister of foreign affairs was in cabinet or not. The Prime Minister is the one who can release that information, I have been trying to get hold of him and I am failing.’

Meanwhile, the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) yesterday released a further statement about Lutfo’s involvement in the scandal, which also involves Phesheya Dlamini, the Swaziland Ambassador to Kuwait. Click here.

LUTFO: SWAZI MEDIA TALK IN RIDDLES

I wish the newspapers in Swaziland would stop talking in riddles about the Lutfo Dlamini corruption scandal.

Today (21 January 2011), it’s the turn of the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper.

Its managing editor Mbongeni Mbingo writes about how the Swaziland Government Cabinet often talks about ‘collective responsibility’.

He then asks, ‘How does Cabinet reconcile this with what is happening with their colleague at foreign affairs?

‘We do not know as yet the extent of the problem that we are made to believe the minister has got to answer to, to his superiors, but I was just thinking that his colleagues would perhaps have taken the fall too.

‘But then again, perhaps this was a decision that did not involve Cabinet! Only time will tell, and the public waits, with bated breath.’

Indeed, if by the ‘public’ Mbingo means Times’ readers, they do indeed wait with baited breath to find out what’s going on. The rest of us know that Lutfo Dlamini, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Phesheya Dlamini, Swaziland Ambassador to Kuwait, were both sacked from their jobs last week because they are implicated in a corruption scandal involving missing millions of emalengeni that was intended for King Mswati III, King of Swaziland and the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa.

Yesterday, the Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned and edited by King Mswati, dribbled on about Lutfo Dlamini being away from work ‘sick’ and his cabinet post being assigned temporarily to Clement Dlamini, the Agriculture Minister.

We expect this misleading reporting from the Observer, but the Times claims to be an ‘independent’ newspaper. Could the people at the Times show us that independence and tell their readers what is really going on. Please.