RADIO'S BLIND EYE ON SWAZILAND

There are none so blind as he who will not see, is the best way to describe Rick Kelsey who reported on Swaziland for London’s LBC radio.

Kelsey visited Swaziland and wrote and presented a feature about rural life in the kingdom.

But somehow he managed not to see the seven in ten people who are so abjectly poor that they earn less than one US dollar a day. Nor did he meet any of the 300,000 people who would go hungry without the food donated by overseas’ aid organisation.

Unlike Michael Skolnik, who wrote and produced the documentary Without The King, Kelsey didn’t meet any of the Swazi rural folk who are struggling against state violence and organising politically to get democracy in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

And unlike the UK Government, he gave no warning about the dangers of terrorism and police violence to tourists visiting Swaziland.

Instead, he interviewed a number of people who want to make a quick buck out of tourists and emphasised what he called the ‘beautiful scenery and very happy, relaxed people’.

Kelsey was in Swaziland on assignment for LBC to make a feature called Destination of the Week for the radio programme the Travel Show. LBC had announced it would be broadcast on 17 October 2010. Then it was postponed for a week, but I'm told never aired.

LBC has been silent to my requests for information about the intended broadcast date. Meanwhile, however, the radio station has put the feature on its website as a podcast.

If you absolutely must - click here to hear it.

NEW DATE FOR SWAZI HOLIDAY SHOW

The London radio programme on Swaziland that was set to whitewash human rights abuses in the kingdom and paint a picture of it as an idyllic holiday destination has been postponed.

LBC has put the feature called ‘destination of the week’ in its Travel Show back by one week. It now airs on 24 October 2010 from 1 – 3pm UK time.

The feature was prepared last month just after Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, threw a number of foreign nationals out of Swaziland because he didn’t like the meeting they were attending. He later said he wanted to target ‘tourists’ who he felt were coming to Swaziland to promote democracy.

These remarks came after Dlamini said that he wanted to use ‘sipakatane’ (otherwise known as ‘bastinado’, a form of torture that involves flogging the bare soles of a person’s feet) on people from overseas who campaigned against his government.

This was just one of the many human rights abuses in Swaziland that has been highlighted by Amnesty International, Freedom House and the US State Department.

UK RADIO SHOW BLIND TO ABUSES

Swaziland is to feature on a London-based radio show that aims to prove the kingdom is ‘Africa’s best kept secret’.

But, instead of revealing to the world the extent of human rights abuses in Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, it intends to highlight the ‘peace and safety’ of the kingdom.

Swaziland will be featured as ‘destination of the week’ on the Holiday Show on LBC Radio in London, UK. Producers claim it has one million listeners a week. The show is also broadcasted through various streams on the internet and spreads across the world.

The show will be aired on Sunday 17 October, 2010, from 2 – 4pm UK time.

The show is hosted by Simon Calder, a well-known travel writer in the UK, who has a reputation as an ethical reporter on travel matters. He also works for Sky TV and the Independent newspaper.

Rick Kelsey, one of the reporters on the show, said, ‘More than a show it is a vehicle for countries to be exposed and stimulate tourist inflow into their countries in a very sophisticated manner.’

He said it was a ‘priceless opportunity to be known by travellers who would otherwise have never known or taken time to visit the country’.

I doubt that Kelsey knows that earlier this month Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, threw a number of foreign nationals out of Swaziland because he didn’t like the meeting they were attending. He later said he wanted to target ‘tourists’ who he felt were coming to Swaziland to promote democracy.

These remarks came after Dlamini said he that he wanted to use ‘sipakatane’ (otherwise known as ‘bastinado’, a form of torture that involves flogging the bare soles of a person’s feet) on people from overseas who campaigned against his government.

This was just one of the many human rights abuses in Swaziland that has been highlighted by Amnesty International, Freedom House and the US State Department.

To promote tourism to Swaziland at the present time is to ask people to spend their hard earned money in support a murderous regime that will stop at nothing to maintain its grip on power.

If you would like to tell the programme makers some truths about Swaziland contact:

Simon Calder at

(Independent newspaper) s.calder@independent.co.uk

(LBC) http://www.lbc.co.uk/email-simon-calder-3453

Contact the LBC Programme Director and Editorial Director, News - Jonathan Richards

Jonathanrichards@thisisglobal.com

Also contact

LBC Programme Complaints

complaints@lbc.co.uk