Swaziland’s Minister of Labour and Social Security Lutfo
Dlamini gave away 450 food hampers to elderly people in his constituency.
After the hampers were given out, attendees of the charity
event were treated to a free meal made up of pap and beef.
Dlamini, who is also Ndzingeni Member of Parliament,
denied to local media that he was campaigning ahead of this year’s national
election. It was, he said, part of the constituency’s charity programme.
The distribution of food to voters appears to be a sure
way to win their support. In a separate
development, women in Nhlambeni interviewed by the Times of Swaziland openly admitted, ‘that due to hunger, they would
not hesitate to cast their vote for people who will campaign using food’.
One woman told the newspaper, ‘There is no way I would
turn my back on food donations and of course I would not tell the world about
it, but such a person would have my vote because my children and I are
starving.’
Another woman said, ‘People are hungry and if they are
promised food, it is highly likely that they will vote for that particular
person.’
There is increasing evidence that sitting government
ministers are using their position to garner favour with their constituents
ahead of the election.
Minister of Health Benedict Xaba hosted a tournament for
Shiselweni schools on a school day. He is expected to stand for election in his
constituency. Xaba also dismissed allegations that his event would be construed
as a campaign strategy.
Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Hlobisile
Ndlovu was reported by media in Swaziland to have distributed E100 bank notes
to potential voters in the small town of Pigg’s Peak in her constituency last
week – this in a kingdom where about 70 per cent of the population earn less
than E10 a day.
Ndlovu is reported to have handed out the money to people
drinking outside a bar.
She denied she was ‘campaigning.’ The Times of Swaziland reported her saying,
‘As a representative of the Pigg’s Peak constituency, it is my duty to give
money or help those who come seeking help. I will continue giving out money
until Parliament has been dissolved.’
Rodgers Mamba Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and
Development reportedly donated 600 blankets to elderly people in his
constituency. At a public event, his supporters also offered his constituents
money to formally nominate Mamba to stand for election.
Corruption is rife in Swaziland at all levels of society
and the House of Assembly is no exception. In 2008, at the last national
election, the kingdom’s Elections and Boundaries Commission reported, ‘corrupt
practices and other offences like treating, undue influence, bribery and
personating are practiced all in the name of campaigning’.
The Commonwealth Expert Team of international observers
at the 2008 election, reported at the time, ‘During the voter registration exercise,
and also prior to the primary and secondary elections, there were reports of
intimidation and bribery of prospective voters by politicians. Politicians
allegedly also threatened voters to either register or lose certain benefits
like scholarships, food aid, health facilities and job opportunities.’
Even Swaziland’s Attorney General Majahenkhaba Dlamini
said that candidates in the election bribed voters to win parliamentary seats.
Dlamini said people declared publicly that they were given money to vote.
‘Giving people money is against the law and the
candidates know that but they continue defying the law’, the Swazi Observer quoted him saying in
2008. At the time many defeated candidates in the election took out court
applications which complained that their competitors had paid voters.
After the election in September 2008, the Times of Swaziland, in an editorial
comment, said, ‘We no longer have
an election; we have a selection of those who were able to buy their way into
power.’
The Times in
2008 went on to say that the new MPs would be ripe for bribing. ‘From what we
hear, corrupt MPs are there for the taking as they seek to recoup their “expenditure”
on the election campaign. None of the MPs we have spoken to wish to come on record
for reasons we only see as putting themselves up for the financial rewards on
offer. What a shame. Individuals have pledged their first salary, plots and
other gains to the MPs. The whole process has simply gone rotten and can best
be described as a sham.’
Candidates know they can bribe their way to office,
because in Swaziland voters are only allowed to elect individuals to
parliament: they cannot vote for political parties.
That means candidates do not compete against one another
in terms of what they could do if they were elected to parliament. This is
simply because one single MP working alone cannot achieve anything once
elected. It is only by working in consort with other MPs that polices can be
put forward to parliament and accepted. That is the value of political parties.
At Swazi elections there are no discussions about
policies, the best that voters are offered are essentially empty promises from
candidates. Candidates talk in vague ways about bringing ‘development’ to their
areas (without stating how this would be achieved). Or they make promises, such
as increasing the grants to elderly people, that they know they have no way of
delivering.
This reduces the election to a ‘beauty contest’ between
candidates. Unless they are coerced by their chiefs to vote for a particular
candidate, people will vote for the person they like the most. And, often, by
‘like’ they mean the person who has treated them well.
See also
WHERE HAVE 200,000 VOTERS COME FROM?
SWAZI ELECTION ‘WILL BE A FRAUD’
