WHAT TRUTH LOOKS LIKE TO LUTFO

The Swazi Government is pressing for a news agency to be set up in the kingdom that will tell the world ‘the truth’ about Swaziland.

Ministers think people overseas aren’t getting a true picture of what is going on in Swaziland. In short, they want the overseas’ media to be like the Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Should such a thing ever come to pass, can we expect to read more reports like this one that appeared in the Observer yesterday (20 October 2010).

It was written by Musa Ndlangamandla, the editor-in-chief, and headlined King’s Charisma Will Bring Investors – Lutfo.

In the report Lutfo Dlamini, the minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, says ‘the King's charisma and unwavering involvement in seeking investment for the country is a plus in pushing the country’s development agenda’.

He was speaking in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). ‘The King continues to put the interest of his people above everything else and he reaches out to all sectors of the Swazi society,’ he says.

The Observer went on, ‘Minister Dlamini added that His Majesty’s wise leadership is appreciated not only by the Swazi nation, but the region, continent and indeed the world.’

It added, ‘His Majesty's philosophy of promoting peace in the country is one of the key catalysts that bind the nation together and is a key ingredient to attracting foreign direct investment. It is a blessing to have a leader of His majesty’s calibre because he is a leader who has put his people's welfare as one of his major priorities.’

Anyone who follows events in Swaziland will know there is not one jot of truth in what Dlamini says, but it is just the kind of ‘news report’ the king and his discredited government want to see circulating around the world.

SWAZILAND PROPAGANDA WON’T WASH

The Swaziland Government lives in a world of its own if it thinks the state-run news agency to be launched soon will improve the image of the kingdom abroad.

The Swazi Parliament adopted a report on the setting up of the Swaziland News Agency (SWANA) which Information, Communication and Technology Minister Nelisiwe Shongwe said, ‘would report accurately about news in Swaziland that would want to be accessed in particular by foreigners’.

She said the kingdom’s leaders had complained about what was reported in foreign countries about Swaziland and SWANA would assist in giving out ‘proper information’.

What she meant, of course, was that the foreign media would publish propaganda on behalf of King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, and his government led by Barnabas Dlamini, the illegally-appointed Prime Minister.

And she expects the foreign media to pay a fee for the privilege of receiving lies from them.

The rulers in Swaziland have had it too good for years from the media in the kingdom. The state controls the news on all radio and one of the two TV stations that operate. The other TV station and the ‘independent’ newspapers never criticise the king and censor themselves over sensitive stories. There is a tiny alternative media in the kingdom – the Nation magazine is the most well known – but these cannot compete against the government lies.

When it comes to the international media, the government has no control. The idea behind SWANA is that media will take ‘news’ from the agency and just reprint it (or broadcast it) as it comes.

It shows that Swazi politicians have no idea what free media do. Do they really think that an international broadcaster such as the BBC or CNN is going to uncritically report that (to take a current example) hunger and poverty in Swaziland is improving, just because the government says it is so? They will do what all good journalists do and investigate to find out the facts.

And Swazi rulers can’t escape the facts: Swaziland is not a democracy and it is controlled by people from King Mswati down who put their own interest before the majority of people. That’s the ‘story’ from Swaziland and it will continue to be told whatever ‘news’ SWANA puts out.