SWAZI DISSIDENT’S WRITING

Mfomfo Nkambule, a former Swaziland Cabinet Minister who writes for the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, the Times of Swaziland, was hauled before the state police Intelligence Unit and told that his weekly articles in the newspaper would incite people to revolt against King Mswati III.

Nkambule, who is also chairman of the Inhlava Forum political party, was told if he criticised the kingagain he could face 20 years in jail.

It is believed that the police were particularly angry about an article written by Nkambule and published in the Times on Monday 5 January 2009.

Below is an extended extract from that article. To read the full article, click here.

When I talk about leadership in Swaziland I am not referring to any of the king’s messengers (Liqoqo, Cabinet, Border Adjustment Committee, MPs, Judicial officers, etc) but to His majesty King Mswati III. In this country, there is no decision that can be made / taken by anyone or a group of people unless the king is involved, especially if that particular decision will affect a number of His Majesty’s subjects. Without the involvement of the king nothing gets done. This is not normal in today’s world but some of His Majesty’s subjects have learned to accept such a set-up and would go to great lengths to defend it.

To me, this set-up is unhealthy and not good for the kingdom and also a threat to the health of the king. Anybody believing it’s the best for Swaziland could be influenced by teachings of the past, as well as exploitation of the Swazi custom. His Majesty has to come to terms with the fact that he is leading people who are far different from the ones who were led by His Majesty King Sobhuza II. There may be similarities between the two groups, but King Mswati III’s group has more challenges than the other and is becoming quite a challenge to the king to lead.

‘Your Majesty, your subjects are not asking much from you but the right to life as the prevailing situation has driven them to a point where they are beginning to believe that you are the one holding the key to their right to life. This key to the right to life comes with the transfer of power to the majority of your subjects’. I am not concerned that much about the past, but I am concerned about today, tomorrow and the years to come. You will agree with me that under the leadership of His Majesty King Mswati III, this nation is sinking because it is standing on quick sand.

What makes it worse is that His Majesty is leading people whose majority has not been given the survival skills in a quick sand environment. When one is all by oneself, there is no way one may avoid sinking in a quick sand situation.

His Majesty is all by himself (as highlighted in last week’s article) and is sinking rapidly, whilst his subjects are watching him but shouting "there is a big rock 2m deep and we are going for assistance 2km away! Hang on Your Majesty!" They do not realise that the king is 1.78m tall. Is there really a Swazi who is a friend to the king?

Who has been a friend or a close acquaintance of His Majesty for the last 10 – 20 years? If there could be a Swazi who could raise his/her hand and tell me that he/she has been an acquaintance of the king for the period stated above I would conclude that he/she is lying. If such a relationship has existed between the king and any of his subjects, then it would be interesting to find out as to who benefited from the relationship.

I am sure you would understand if I told you that most of the time it would be the subject benefiting from such a relationship with the king. If the king were to benefit anything, then the king would expose himself to blackmail, which would ultimately lead to evil practices in places you would never imagine.

Those who get acquainted to the king do so at a very high expense to the majority of His Majesty’s subjects. I have had an opportunity to engage some of His Majesty’s subjects, who have had the chance to get to know the king better than you and me.

Difficult

They have told me that it is very difficult to be of any value to the king because he has a way of getting a majority of those acquainted with him to lose their natural bearings. This makes me realise that the king will never be in an environment where he may learn a thing or two from those he mingles with.

Those who try to make sense are easily marginalised and they end up doing what everybody (in the group) does without fail (visiting the bank on pay-day). It is very obvious that there is no structure that is responsible for giving sound advice and guidance to His Majesty in as far as leadership is concerned. It is all a game of chance when it comes to finding the best decisions for the majority of the people of Swaziland.

The king has not acquainted himself with any Head of State in the region, who could be of some assistance to him for the benefit of his subjects.

The king talks and listens to himself. This is why he came up with committees like Liqoqo, Cabinet, Border Adjustment, Ludzidzini, etc. These are all an expense to His Majesty’s subjects but not to the king because the king talks and listens to himself. We have left everything to the unknown gods of this kingdom and this is not acceptable. The mistakes being made by my king are becoming many and this is sending a bad signal to the common man in the street because his confidence on his beloved king is being eroded at a pace greater than it can be regained. The king must be conscious of the fact that whilst we do not have power in this kingdom to do what is right for ourselves, we are beginning to use our brains to bring about the necessary change needed to live today, tomorrow and many years to come.

We strongly believe that we have a potential of living a lifestyle better than the one offered to us by the present political set-up. We, at Inhlava, have realised that our strength is in the people of Swaziland realising the opportunities that lie ahead for them under a new political set-up, where they will be able to make decisions for themselves and their children.

We have realised that in the midst of all the social challenges facing us as a people, our strength is in believing what we can be and what we can do when we change the political set-up.

The present political set-up, under the leadership of the king has been successful in showing us our weaknesses as a people. It has not put us in positions where we could have exploited or utilised opportunities that came our way. When Inhlava changes the current political set-up with the support of the majority of Swazis, it shall be able to set up standards that will be endorsed by the majority.

His Majesty King Mswati III cannot transform the people he leads because knowingly / unknowingly he has taught them to look up to him for initiatives, yet for decades there have not been any initiatives that have increased the standard of living for the majority. We have taken the initiative to re-organise ourselves after enduring pain and hardships beyond human endurance.

Seeing that nobody cares about our basic needs and our children’s dreams, we have fought our old selves (submissive, conformist, etc) and have emerged victorious. In our commitment to transform ourselves to a better people, capable of making best decisions for ourselves, we shall police ourselves so that each Swazi man/woman may live a purposeful lifestyle.

There shall never again be a majority that will be passive on issues that affect its well-being and progress as such an environment breeds a culture in which dishonest people thrive very well and end up being role models, who do not pass on the desirable values and principles needed for nation building. Inhlava members shall be meeting this week to discuss a major strategy that will result in Swazis taking their new positions in the affairs of this country.

SUPPORT FOR SWAZI DISSIDENT GROWS

Support for the Swazi writer who has been threatened with 20 years in jail for criticising Swaziland’s King Mswati III is growing.

Mfomfo Nkambule, a former Swaziland Cabinet Minister who writes for the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, the Times of Swaziland, was hauled before the state police Intelligence Unit and told that his weekly articles in the newspaper would incite people to revolt against the king.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland chapter has condemned the police action.

In a statement, MISA-Swaziland National Director, Comfort Mabuza, said ‘state threats against the media and citizens were uncalled for and that this was a serious infringement on the fundamental right to freedom of expression’.

Mabuza said the state should know that people have a right to express themselves freely without intimidation. He said such right was guaranteed in the Swazi constitution and reiterated that MISA-Swaziland will always guard against the violation of such rights.

The Times newspaper, in an editorial published on Wednesday (7 January 2009), also condemned this censorship. The newspaper said that it seems that days are numbered for even minimal freedom of speech for Swazi citizens and asked the question, ‘Where is the democracy in a society that cannot think, speak or express itself freely? Is this how unique our system is, where forced silence means we consent to how certain people want to run our lives?’

Nkambule, who is also chair of the Inhlava Forum political party, has been a vocal critic of the ruling elite, both in his time as a parliamentarian and also in his newspaper column.

In his article on Monday (5 January 2009), which is thought to have provoked the police action, he wrote, ‘Use your brains people; the king has to come to terms with the fact that he leads people who are far different from the ones who were led by King Sobhuza II.

‘The king is all by himself and is sinking rapidly whilst his subjects are watching him but shouting 'there is a big rock 2 metres deep and we are going for assistance 2 km away. Hang on Your Majesty.' They do not realize that the king is 1.78m tall. . .the king talks and listens to himself.’

To read the full article click here.

SWAZI DISSIDENT FACES 20 YEARS JAIL

Mfomfo Nkambule, the Times of Swaziland writer and former Swazi Cabinet Minister, could be charged with sedition and face up to 20 years in jail for articles he has written in the newspaper.

Nkambule, who is also chairman of the Inhlava Forum political party was taken in by the Swazi state police Intelligence Unit and told that his articles could incite a revolt against King Mswati III.

According to a report in the Times today (8 January 2009), Nkambule was told he could be charged with sedition should he continue to write his articles.

The newspaper reported, ‘Section 5 (1) of the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act prescribes that anybody convicted for subversive activities will be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years without the option of a fine.

‘The Act defines subversive activities as actions that support or advocate things that are prejudicial to public order, the country’s security and the administration of justice.

‘The crimes include inciting disobedience among citizens to any lawful authority, indicating association with unlawful groups and comments or criticism intended excite disaffection against public officers.

‘The 1938 law stipulates that once a person has been charged with these crimes, a Special Tribunal of not less than five people will be appointed by the king to deal with his matter. Proceedings of the tribunal shall not be subject to any court and its members shall have the same powers, privileges and immunities of High Court judges.’

The Times quotes Mandla Mkhwanazi of the Lawyers for Human Rights saying that the police are wrong to think they can use outdated laws such as the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act against Nkambule.

‘The constitution guarantees the freedoms of expression and speech. It also allows one the freedom to hold any belief. Any other law that takes away that right should fall off. Unless the police are saying they want to charge him with sedition but even then, personally, I have not seen anything seditious in those statements. The man is just stating facts as he sees them,’ said Mkhwanazi.

SWAZI POLICE ‘PERVERTED MORALITY’

The following is a statement from the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations following news that a Times of Swaziland writer and former Swazi Government Cabinet Minister Mfomfo Nkambule was taken in by police and told that the articles he was writing for the newspaper could incite people to revolt against King Mswati III.

The Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations notes with extreme concern the twisted logic and perverted morality of our police service. It can send three officers to threaten and intimidate a writer yet it takes no action on members of its own force that have been colluding in the rape and prostitution of underage girls.

Community police acknowledged knowing about these so called teenage brothels where underage sex and child prostitution was common. They further admitted to using the girls to get information on petty criminals. This is the sort of scandal that would rock any other government to its foundations and lead to resignations or sackings.

The officers that knew about these crimes and criminals and did nothing about them must be found and must be dismissed. Our daughters’ moral, emotional and sexual development is not a suitable tool for the detection of crime.

Of course this lackadaisical behaviour by the police in terms of serious crime is not found when it comes to them attempting to please their political masters and once again try to tear up our Human Rights.

The Coalition is particularly concerned at the nature of the threats levelled at Mfomfo Nkambule for writing his Monday articles in the Swazi Times. We are unsurprised at the police officers’ continuing lack of awareness of the rights afforded to us all under the Constitution. It is part of a pattern of human rights abuses that the current police leadership seems unwilling to do anything about.

The police invoking unspecified pre-independence legislation (we assume they mean the Sedition Act) shows the depth of their ignorance of the Law. Under section 268, the Constitution (the ultimate law of the land) repeals all previous acts insofar as they are inconsistent with it.

Nothing that Mfomfo has written can seriously be said to destabilise or threaten the State, it might embarrass some people who are making an extremely good living on the back of their loyalty to their stomachs, but that is not a National Security issue. It is no role of the police to protect the blushes of labadzala from legitimate enquiry.

This illegal, unconstitutional and unprofessional bullying must stop. The Coalition has also been visited by security police and its staff have come under pressure to limit what we do and what we advocate on. This pressure will, of course, be ignored. Our freedoms are most easily extinguished when we do it ourselves.

Freedom of Expression includes the right to question not only the actions of the government and the traditional authorities but the motives behind those actions. It is only the weak, and the defenders of the indefensible who cannot respond to debate but instead send in the police to intimidate the messenger. We find it difficult to believe that these officers were acting on their own initiative and so the Coalition would like to know where the orders to interrogate and threaten Babe Nkambule really came from. No doubt those that issued the order will remain as all bullies do, hidden and cowardly, happy for their henchmen to carry the blame for their lack of moral or political courage.

The Coalition sees these two incidents as part of a deep and underlying malaise in policing in Swaziland. The priorities seem to be all wrong. The Coalition has repeatedly called for the RSP to be trained on policing under a Bill of Rights and we repeat that call now. The majesty of the law and the rule of law is being called into question by these actions.

These actions are doing more harm to the image of Swaziland than any number of so called detractors can do. It brings shame on our country when the police take to themselves the right to intimidate our writers, human rights defenders and others while leaving our daughters easy prey to perverts. This is in spite of the country enacting the Constitution with its Bill of Rights as well as ratifying many international human rights treaties. We must stand up for our rights to free expression, assembly and association etc. The Police have no place in the editor’s room. A politicised police force has no place in a democracy. In fact, a politicised police force threatens the very fabric of our democracy.

END OF STATEMENT

(For background information on the issue of community police and child prostitutes, click here and here.)