SWAZI KING SEES NO ZIMBABWE CRISIS

King Mswati III of Swaziland is in hot water for claiming at a news conference that in Zimbabwe ‘things are going well so far’.

He told incredulous reporters that he had heard no reports that things were bad in Zimbabwe.

King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, was speaking at the end of an extraordinary summit of the Southern African Development Community in Sandton, South Africa on Saturday (20 June 2009).

The President of South Africa Jacob Zuma had been asked by two leaders of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change party to get the SADC to intervene in their dispute with President Robert Mugabe over many issues that have arisen since Mugabe stole power after last year’s election.

According to a report in the Star, Johannesburg, when a journalist asked how King Mswati could say that things were well in Zimbabwe when there were daily reports of people being abducted and jailed, the Swazi king said ‘nothing official’ had been brought to the SADC’s attention about such things.

If the SADC were informed officially, it would take up these issues, he said.

King Mswati was saved from a pounding by journalists by Zuma who stopped them asking further questions.

‘If we start discussing Zimbabwe now, we will end up with headlines tomorrow as though this was what the summit was about,’ he said.

King Mswati must be the only person in the world who hasn’t heard about the state of Zimbabwe. Even as the SADC was meeting at the weekend, Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was being heckled off the stage in London, UK, by disgruntled Zimbabwean expatriates he had urged to return home to help rebuild their country. They were unhappy about his decision to share power with Mugabe and heckled Tsvangirai so much he was forced to cut short his speech.

Things are so bad in Zimbabwe that Tsvangirai, who let me remind you is prime minister of Zimbabwe, may be prosecuted because he went overseas on an unauthorised trip.

Earlier this month King Mswati was feted by Mugabe in Zimbabwe. At a banquet Mugabe praised the (undemocratic) system of government in Swaziland, where political parties are banned.

Meanwhile in Swaziland, the Swazi Observer newspaper, which is in effect owned by King Mswati, had the headline KING SHINES AT SADC SUMMIT in its edition today (22 Juner 2009) but made no mention of Zimbabwe.

The Observer quoted Barnabas Dlamini, who was illegally appointed Prime Minister of Swaziland by King Mswati, who praised the king’s ‘able leadership, vision, wisdom and guidance’.

STUDENTS AGAINST SWAZILAND KING

I wrote yesterday (10 June 2009) that Swaziland King Mswati III had little support from the international community – except from Zimbabwe despot, Robert Mugabe.

Now, it seems Mugabe may be a lone voice in his own country.

The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) has voiced ‘its strongest displeasure’ at the visit to Zimbabwe of King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, because of his ‘long history of human rights violations’.

In a media statement ZINASU said, ‘King Mswati continues to use repressive state apparatus to ban political formations and silence dissent for genuine liberation of the Swaziland democratic struggle.

‘PUDEMO [The People’s United Democratic Movement] President Mario Masuku and other civic activists are languishing in jail fighting for the total liberation and democratisation of Swaziland.

‘It is high time that the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) put serious pressure on Mswati for the democratisation of Swaziland. We extend our solidarity to the people of Swaziland for their struggle for democracy.’

ZINASU goes on, ‘It is disturbing that our government is lavishly hosting dictators at a time when the majority of Zimbabweans do not have access to basic social services namely health and education.’

SWAZILAND FREEDOM FIGHT GOES ON

Freedom campaigners for Swaziland have had their work cut out in recent days as the Swazi state tries to tighten its grip.

The jailing of Thulani Maseko, Swaziland’s most prominent human rights lawyer, sparked fears that other arrests are imminent. Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule believes an arrest warrant is out for him and he says he is ready to go to jail.

The banned political party the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) says eight of its leaders are also expecting to be arrested any time now.

Mario Masuku, president of PUDEMO, remains in jail since last November awaiting trial on a sedition charge.

Meanwhile, the government has confirmed that legislation is being drafted by the end of this month to make it a crime for anyone on the government’s payroll (which includes minor civil servants and school teachers) to speak out on politics. Under the Suppression of Terrorism Act anyone who speaks out against the state is liable to go to prison for up to 25 years.

Last week Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, told editors and senior journalists in Swaziland that moves are afoot to introduce legislation to control the media. This would in effect give the government powers to punish media houses and journalists who publish material the state doesn’t like.

Even as the Swazi state shows it has no interest in democracy the fight for freedom continues.

Only this week I reported that the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) criticised the Swaziland Supreme Court for misinterpreting the Swazi Constitution and ruling that it was lawful to continue to ban political parties in the kingdom.

Last week Amnesty International issued a report on human rights in Swaziland and highlighted the ‘crackdown against critics of the government’. It went on, ‘Police continued to use excessive force against peaceful demonstrators and workers on strike. Torture, other ill-treatment and the unjustified use of lethal force by law enforcement officials were reported.’

Maurice Parker, the outgoing US Ambassador to Swaziland, in his farewell speech this week said, ‘Let us declare our commitment to the people of Swaziland and to the advancement of the concepts citizens of the United States hold so dear. Those of equality of opportunity; education; freedom of expression; freedom of the media, and association; human rights for all; the rule of law, and democratic participation in government policies.’

PUDEMO, in a statement this week said, ‘By arresting President Mario and recently Advocate Thulani Maseko, [Prime Minister] Barnabas [Dlamini] had hoped that the people will desert the movement. They had hoped that the people will forget their leaders. The opposite has happened.’

It went on, ‘Every day more and more people across all sectors of our society: the youth, students, churches, rural communities, professionals, workers, etc; have come to realise and accept PUDEMO as their true representative and liberation movement.’

Internally and internationally people are speaking out against King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, and his ruling elite.

It is increasingly difficult to find anyone internationally who supports the king.

But there remains one voice of support. It comes from Robert Mugabe, who remains president of Zimbabwe after stealing the election last year. He has been entertaining King Mswati this week on a state visit.

In a speech at a banquet to honour King Mswati, Mugabe praised the Tinkhundla system of government that bans political parties in Swaziland.

‘It is a democratic and community-based system that allows only bona fide members of a community to stand for elections. We are therefore proud to note that the Kingdom of Swaziland is one of the few countries in Africa which has preserved its rich culture while at the same time adopting aspects of modernisation. We wish the rest of Africa could emulate some of your time tested traditions for the sake of posterity.’

So there you have it: all the king has left, the support of a fellow despot.

SWAZI KING WATCHES HIS OWN BACK

Last Week the Swaziland media were heaping praise on King Mswati III for the tremendous role he played in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) efforts at mediation in the Zimbabwean elections impasse.

Quite what he is supposed to have accomplished is beyond me since the meeting he chaired in the Swazi capital Mbabane broke up in disarray. They will start again tomorrow (27 October 2008) in Harare.

The Sowetan newspaper in South Africa was equally confused. But unlike its counterparts in Swaziland the Sowetan doesn’t have to pretend that King Mswati is all-knowing and infallible (the worst that the Swazi media will ever say against the king is that he was ‘ill advised’).

The Sowetan (22 October 2008) wondered aloud about the king and the ‘curious idea of having that beacon of feudalism, Swaziland, as the venue where discussions pertaining to returning Zimbabwe to a democracy took place.

‘Even the arch despot, King Mswati III, found a moment from his busy schedule of shopping or finding young brides to lecture the Zimbabweans about how they should go about finding national peace and stability.

‘How rich, coming as it did from a man with a penchant for looking the other way as his own subjects die of hunger and Aids while he and his wives frolic merrily in the shopping capitals of the world.’

The Sowetan misses the point. King Mswati is an obvious choice for these talks which involve one illegitimate leader (King Mswati) finding excuses to allow another illegitimate leader (Robert Mugabe) to cling to power. Sometime in the not too distant future the king of Swaziland will need similar help himself.

SATIRE ALIVE AND WELL IN SWAZILAND

Last Thursday King Mswati III of Swaziland, sub-Saharan Africa’s last autonomous monarch, ignored his own constitution and appointed Barnabas Dlamini, a man with a record of human rights abuses, as Prime Minister.

Political parties have been banned in Swaziland since 1973, the Swazi Parliament has no real powers, and the king makes all important decisions. The king appoints one in seven MPs and two thirds of the Senate House.

Today, (20 October 2008) King Mswati chairs a committee of the Southern African Development Community at which he intends to ‘urge’ Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to share power with opposition politicians against his will.

And they say satire is dead .....