SWAZI STATE SPIES ON 'CABINET'

State spies are infiltrating meetings held by Swaziland’s ‘shadow cabinet’.

Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule reports that when his Inhlava Forum political party meets state agents come to the meetings and ‘take notes to give to their masters’.

In March 2009 Inhlava set up a ‘shadow cabinet’ to monitor the Swazi Government and to create alternative polices so that once democracy comes to Swaziland it would be ready to serve.

Nkhambule says on his blog today (19 June 2009) that members of the shadow cabinet are being harassed. The shadow minister of housing has been taken in by authorities for ‘a grilling’ after a letter he wrote in the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, in which he advised King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, to meet with Nkhambule.

According to Nkhambule, ‘He told me he got a call from the illegal Prime Minister (appointed by the King in complete violation of the country’s constitution) to report to the Palace on a Saturday without fail.

‘Present in the grilling session were the illegal Prime Minister, Dr Sibusiso B Dlamini, the Chairman of Liqoqo (King’s advisory council) and two other gentlemen whom he could not identify. He was given stern warning not to associate himself with the party or similar statements again.

‘He was threatened with eviction from his village. I saw tears rolling down his face as he narrated his ordeal before the terrible four. Why would these four gentlemen pounce on a Swazi national who is trying so hard to help his fellow Swazis help themselves? What else are they capable of doing?’

To read the full blogpost, click here.

SWAZI DISSIDENT TAKES TO INTERNET

Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhmabule, who had his regular column dropped by the Times of Swaziland on the instructions by of King Mswati III has set up his own site on the Internet.

Nkhmabule, a former Swaziland Government cabinet minister and present chair of the Inhlava Forum political party, had gained international attention with his comments against the Swazi ruling elite and his criticisms of King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

On his new site, he says, ‘Anybody standing against the system in Swaziland is branded a terrorist - yes a terrorist just for being a politician, a citizen and somebody who wishes to do the right thing by his fellow citizens as well as His Majesty.’

To access the site click here.

Meanwhile, Nkhmabule has been further victimised for his views. The Times Sunday reported that he was ‘chucked out of the royal fields and further threatened with mob violence’ last week.

The newspaper says ‘he was chased away because he is no longer a member of the Balondolozi regiment, following his expulsion for “writing negatively” about the country’s government and monarchy.

Nkhambule was previously hauled in by Swaziland’s state police and threatened with torture if he continued to criticise the king. He was later dropped from his traditional regiment, threatened with banishment from his homeland, and his family was threatened because he refused to be silenced.

CALL TO SACK ILLEGAL SWAZILAND PM

Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule has called on Swaziland Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini to resign or be sacked because he was not appointed legally.

Nkhambule, who recently announced his Inhlava Forum political party would form an opposition government to Dlamini, says Swaziland faces a constitutional crisis.

As I have been reporting in this blog since October 2008 when Dlamini was made Prime Minister by King Mswati III, the appointment was unconstitutional because a prime minister can only be appointed from members of the House of Assembly. Dlamini was not a member at the time of his appointment.

Nkhambule, a former Swaziland Government cabinet minister, writing in his regular weekly column in the Times of Swaziland, said, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) should intervene and see that Dlamini is removed from office.

Nkhambule has been under attack in recent months for his outspoken views on Swaziland’s undemocratic political system and the role King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, plays in it.

In his article, Nkhambule says that if Dlamini stays as prime minister, King Mswati ‘is telling all his subjects to forget about the constitution’.

He goes on, ‘The question that should be troubling some Swazis is: can the king have courage to do what is right? Can he really send Dr Sibusiso [the prime minister] home for the sake of this country and for the restoration of the rule of law? IT IS A COURAGEOUS MAN WHO LIKES UPHOLDING THE TRUTH.’

The questions he poses are, of course, rhetorical since it was King Mswati who appointed Dlamini in the first place. The king knew what he was doing and he knew Dlamini’s reputation as an anti-democrat, who when he was previously prime minister in Swaziland constantly flouted the rule of law.

Appointing Dlamini, King Mswati gave him instructions to wage war against any Swazis who wanted to see the present despotic regime overturned by democracy.

Dlamini has set about his task with energy and a reign of terror was unleashed and pro-democracy advocates have been arrested and harassed and legal public demonstrations banned or attacked.

And that’s just the way King Mswati likes it.

REGIMENT EXPELS SWAZI DISSIDENT

Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule has been thrown out of his traditional regiment because he won’t stop advocating for democracy in Swaziland.

And he has also been stopped by his church from working as a preacher because his bishop disagrees with his views.

As expected, Nkhambule was told yesterday (21 March 2009) that his writings in the Times of Swaziland newspaper were too critical of King Mswati III and the ruling elite.

King Mswati is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch and despite a constitution published in 2005, the king has a firm hand on Swaziland, selecting the prime minister and the cabinet. All political parties are banned and the king makes all the important decisions. He and his government regularly ignore the provisions of the constitution.

According to a report in the Times Sunday today, Nkhambule, a former Swaziland Government cabinet minister and present chair of the Inhalva Forum political party was told he was expelled from the regiment at a meeting that lasted two minutes. He was also fined one cow.

Nkhambule said he would probably appeal the decision.

He told the Times Sunday, ‘"I will also continue writing my column in the Times of Swaziland.

‘I intend to fight this issue to the last pint of my blood. Submitting to their ruling would mean that being a Swazi is determined by them, when in actual fact that is not the case. I am a Swazi by birth; no one determines my nationality or cultural activities in which I take part.’

In a separate development, Nkhambule has been stopped from preaching at the church known as World Solutions Ministries.

The Times Sunday reported that Nkhambule disagreed with some of the church’s doctrines.

His church superior, Bishop Lucas is known to be a fervent supporter of King Mswati III.

Nkhambule has now started his own church.

FRESH ATTACK ON SWAZI DISSIDENT

Anti-democrats in Swaziland are refusing to give up their attacks on Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule.

Nkhambule, a former Swaziland Government Cabinet minister, is an outspoken advocate for democracy in the kingdom ruled by sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Mswati III.

Nkhambule has been threatened with jail, with torture, and with banishment from his homeland and traditional regiment. His family have also been threatened.

All because Nkhambule continues to point out to the Swazi people the failings of Swaziland’s political system and the need for reforms of the present monarchy-led set up.

His criticisms are regularly made in his weekly column published in the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, the Times of Swaziland.

The Times reports today (19 March 2009) that Nkhambule has been summoned to appear at the royal residence on Saturday.

According to the newspaper, he might be officially kicked out of the regiment for defying instructions from his Chief’s (Prince Logcogco) council warning him to stop writing negatively about the anti-democratic nature of Swaziland’s ruling elite.

An unnamed source told the Times the last straw was this past Monday, when Nkhambule announced in his column that his political party Inhlava Forum had formed its own cabinet team, to try to replace the present cabinet.