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.

LUTFO ‘TOO SICK TO WORK’

I smell a cover-up. News comes today that Lutfo Dlamini is too sick to carry on in his job in the Swaziland Government.

And his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will be taken temporarily by Clement Dlamini, the Agriculture Minister.

But reader, you and I know that Lutfo Dlamini was sacked from his cabinet post last Thursday because of his involvement with Phesheya Dlamini, Swaziland’s (now ex-) Ambassador to Kuwait, in a scandal involving stolen money that was meant to be delivered to King Mswati III from the Kuwaiti Royal Family.

The Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned and edited by King Mswati, reports today (20 January 2011) that Lutfo Dlamini is on sick leave until 31 January 2011.

With, I suspect, its tongue firmly in its cheek, the newspaper that has not yet told its readers the truth about the Lutfo scandal, suggests that his illness may be connected with a visit the police made to Lutfo last Thursday when they escorted him to a meeting with Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister.

I don’t know if the police visit brought on Lutfo’s 'illness’, but if I were a betting man I’d wager the house that Lutfo is in some distress now wondering what fate King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has in store for him.

As for the cover-up? Let’s see if Lutfo returns to work on 31 January 2011. Or will we be told that his illness is so serious he will have to retire early? And, quietly, the scandal stays hushed up.

AMBASSADOR HARDLY EVER AT WORK

Swazi people are entitled to ask why Phesheya Dlamini, the kingdom’s (now ex) Ambassador to Kuwait, has been staying in a hotel in Swaziland for the past three months.

It seems to confirm a report I made on 3 January 2010 that many of Swaziland’s embassies abroad are not really needed. In that report it was claimed that the embassy in Kuwait was only opened for Princess Temaswati to study in that country.

If the Kuwait Embassy can run for such a long time without the Ambassador, it can’t be very busy.

The Swazi News, an independent newspaper in Swaziland, revealed that Phesheya Dlamini was staying at the top-class Ezulwini Sun, in one of the kingdom’s main tourist spots. According to the newspaper, he’s in ‘a vacation suite that consists of two bedrooms, a lounge, kitchen and a bathroom’ and has run up a bill close to E100,000 (about US$10,000) - but he is getting a discount.

‘One of the bedrooms has a queen-sized bed while the other has two double beds. This is one of the biggest rooms provided to our guests and it is currently occupied by the ambassador,’ an unnamed source told the newspaper.

The Ambassador has not told the hotel when he intends to leave, according to the Swazi News, but Phesheya Dlamini may be out on the streets sooner than he thinks, if the hotel room is being paid for by the Swaziland taxpayer.

Last Thursday (13 January 2011) Phesheya Dlamini was sacked from his job as Ambassador at the same time that Lutfo Dlamini was dismissed as Swaziland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation. Both are implicated in a corruption scandal centred on missing money sent by the Kuwaiti Royal Family to King Mswati III of Swaziland, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

I am pleased that the Swazi News made this situation public, but it, and the other media in Swaziland, mustn’t use Phesheya Dlamini’s unusual living arrangements as a smokescreen. None of the media in Swaziland have yet reported the dismissal of the Dlamini twins, nor that they are involved in a corruption scandal. That is the real story – the hotel stay is merely a diversion.

MEDIA BAFFLE ON LUTFO SCANDAL

There must be a lot of people in Swaziland baffled about what’s happened to Lutfo Dlamini.

And the Swazi media are mainly to blame for this.

As readers to this blog know, Lutfo Dlamini, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Phesheya Dlamini, Swazi Ambassador to Kuwait, were picked up on Thursday (13 January 2011) by senior police officers and taken to see Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister.

Both Lutfo Dlamini and Phesheya Dlamini were sacked from their jobs. Both are heavily involved in a corruption scandal centred on missing money that the Kuwaiti Royal Family sent to King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

But the Swazi media refuse to tell the Swazi people this. Instead the media either say nothing, or like the two newspaper groups in the kingdom, claim to their readers that there is some mystery to the meeting.

The Swazi Observer, the newspaper in effect owned and edited by King Mswati, even reported ‘Staff at Lutfo’s ministry was left bemused by the “invasion” of the police and wondered what the minister had done to be “visited” by senior police officers who looked mean.’

The Weekend Observer today (15 January 2011), plays a dirty trick on its readers. It knows full well why the Dlamini twins were called to Thursday’s meeting, but it claimed in a report that Phesheya Dlamini might have been called to see Barnabas Dlamini, because the PM holds a grudge against Phesheya because, in 2003, while Swaziland’s’ Attorney General, he sent an SMS text message to Barnabas Dlamini telling him that the king had sacked him from the premiership. The Observer suggests that Barnabas has been biding his time all these years to get back at Phesheya.

There was no need for all this media deceit, because three days previous to the police visit; it had been revealed across the globe that Lutfo Dlamini and Phesheya Dlamini, were implicated in the Kuwaiti corruption.

Of course the Observer won’t tell the Swazi people any of this. We know, because Alec Lushaba, editor of the Weekend Observer told us last week, that the Observer newspapers won’t report anything about the Swazi Royal Family without the King’s permission. Permission in this case was clearly denied.

If we accept that the Observer is simply a propaganda rag for King Mswati, why did it bother to report the meeting at all? By turning the events of this week into a mystery it not only deceives its readers, but it shows utter contempt for them.

The Observer hit new depths (even by its own low standards) and managed to turn the political crisis into a fashion show. Instead of levelling with the Swazi people about what was going on, it chose to publish 380 words on how the participants arrived at the meeting and what they were wearing.

I do not lie to you.

So, we learnt that ‘top lawyer’ Musa Dlamini arrived ‘clad in a navy blue suit blended with a white shirt. The blazer was on his left hand while the other hand was in his pocket’.

Ambassador Phesheya Dlamini ‘was in traditional attire’.

Minister of Justice David Matse, ‘looked conservative in a green suit’.

The star of the show Lutfo Dlamini was in ‘white attire (trouser and shirt) with brown shoes’.

The Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, didn’t do much better. It too mistook the crisis for a fashion show, but decided to feature fewer models in its catwalk commentary.

LUTFO CASH ‘WAS TO BUY KING A JET’

A new twist in the scandal engulfing Lutfo Dlamini, who was sacked on Thursday as Swaziland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, emerged yesterday (14 January 2011).

It is reported that he and Phesheya Dlamini, Swaziland’s (now ex-) Ambassador to Kuwait, stole money that was intended as a personal gift from the Kuwati Royal Family to allow King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, to buy himself a private jet.

The latest accusation comes from the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) which reported, ‘The king apparently wanted another private aeroplane in order to be able to use the one he currently owns for business purposes.’

It added, ‘The Kuwati Royal Family initially deposited ten million dollars to a private account belonging to the King. The remainder was meant to be delivered by the minister and the ambassador, who both decided to pocket the money for themselves. The ambassador did not waste time in making the most of his new found wealth as he reportedly spent two months living in a five-star hotel.’

Previously, it was thought a sum of US$ 1 million intended for King Mswati had been stolen and that it was meant to help Swaziland in its present dire economic circumstances.