REGIMENT EXPELS SWAZI DISSIDENT

Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule has been thrown out of his traditional regiment because he won’t stop advocating for democracy in Swaziland.

And he has also been stopped by his church from working as a preacher because his bishop disagrees with his views.

As expected, Nkhambule was told yesterday (21 March 2009) that his writings in the Times of Swaziland newspaper were too critical of King Mswati III and the ruling elite.

King Mswati is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch and despite a constitution published in 2005, the king has a firm hand on Swaziland, selecting the prime minister and the cabinet. All political parties are banned and the king makes all the important decisions. He and his government regularly ignore the provisions of the constitution.

According to a report in the Times Sunday today, Nkhambule, a former Swaziland Government cabinet minister and present chair of the Inhlava Forum political party was told he was expelled from the regiment at a meeting that lasted two minutes. He was also fined one cow.

Nkhambule said he would probably appeal the decision.

He told the Times Sunday, ‘"I will also continue writing my column in the Times of Swaziland.

‘I intend to fight this issue to the last pint of my blood. Submitting to their ruling would mean that being a Swazi is determined by them, when in actual fact that is not the case. I am a Swazi by birth; no one determines my nationality or cultural activities in which I take part.’

In a separate development, Nkhambule has been stopped from preaching at the church known as World Solutions Ministries.

The Times Sunday reported that Nkhambule disagreed with some of the church’s doctrines.

His church superior, Bishop Lucas, is known to be a fervent supporter of King Mswati III.

Nkhambule has now started his own church.

SWAZILAND KING FEARS ARMY COUP

King Mswati III of Swaziland must be a very worried man.

The king has asked his armed forces not to launch a coup against him.

His plea came after Madagascar armed forces overthrew President Marc Ravalomanana, after they accused him of spending public money recklessly and being undemocratic.

The parallels between Madagascar and Swaziland are close. King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is undemocratic and spends money unwisely.

He appoints the Prime Minister, the cabinet and makes all important decisions in Swaziland. Political parties are banned and dissent is quashed.

Despite the fact that a new constitution came into force in 2005, King Mswati and his government regularly ignore its provisions.

King Mswati and his family were awarded E130 million (about 10 million US dollars) in public money in the national budget last month (February 2009), despite the fact that he has a wealth estimated at 200 million US dollars, while 70 percent of his subjects live in abject poverty, earning less than one US dollar a day.

King Mswati is world renowned for his lavish lifestyle; his taste for expensive cars and the opulence of his palaces.

The king has had difficulty in recent months in keeping his subjects in order. A Suppression of Terrorism Act unleashed last year led to four political entities being branded as ‘terrorist’ organisations. Members and supporters face up to 25 years in jail. Mario Masuku, a leading pro-democracy activist has been in jail since last November awaiting trial on terrorism charges.

Despite the best efforts of King Mswati’s security forces, the fight for democracy in Swaziland is continuing.

Now the king has told his soldiers it is their duty to protect Swaziland and not ‘to work with hot heads hell-bent on destabilising peace’.

He added, ‘I would like to caution soldiers not to contribute to instability.’

During a defence force passing out ceremony yesterday (20 March 2009), King Mswati made a reference to the situation in Madagascar, where soldiers refused to obey orders and turned against the president.

According to a report in Swaziland’s Weekend Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, the king is reported saying, ‘I warn you soldiers not to emulate such conduct. The said soldiers I’m talking about were given orders to defend the country but instead of following such orders, they invaded bushes.’

The king expressed hope that the recruits joined the army not just for employment but because of their wish to protect and defend the country.

King Mswati may be whistling in the dark here. Soldiers in Swaziland are no better treated than any other of the king’s subjects and it is not obvious to an outsider why they should feel any allegiance to him. The king and his ruling elite rely on traditional Swazi culture to see them through. Put simply, this means that ordinary people are expected to adore the king and to never question whether he is right or wrong. The king and his elite bestow special privileges to those who help him to maintain his grip on power and as long as it is in their interests to continue giving that support, they will.

But should the wind change, as it has in Madagascar, that support could swiftly evaporate and King Mswati will only have his armed forces to save him ..... or not.

SUPPORT FOR FREE SWAZILAND GROWS

Support for democracy in Swaziland is spreading throughout the world.

This week comes news that a new campaign group has been set up in Finland to raise awareness of the problems in Swaziland and to develop solidarity work in liaison with the Peoples’ United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and the Swaziland Solidarity Network.

The formation of the new group came after the documentary Without the King was shown at a private movie theatre in Helsinki.

According to a report posted on the Swaziland Solidarity Network forum, about 50 people attended the event, which was followed by a full discussion on the situation in Swaziland.

The event was organised by the Finnish Peace Committee, Swaziland Solidarity Network and the Finnish non-governmental research and solidarity organization CRASH.

The new group says there are plans to arrange other events to raise the issue of Swaziland, in part to build public awareness and activism on it in Finland, but also to put pressure on Finnish foreign policy decision makers in Finland to boycott the Swazi regime and argue for pressure to be brought on the Mswati dictatorship by the European Union and other intergovernmental forums.

The Finnish group joins other solidarity groups across the world, including those in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, and various parts of Africa.

VAST COST OF SWAZI ROYAL FAMILY

Swaziland’s King Mswati III and his family are to cost the Swazi people E130 million for their upkeep in the coming year.

This figure is more than the money Swaziland will spend on capital expenditure for education (E113 million) or capital expenditure on social security and welfare (E73 million).

The money will go to the king and his wives (believed to number 13 in total, but this is not confirmed as the number of wives the king has is officially deemed to be information the Swazi people must not have) and countless members of the Royal Family.

The E130 million for the king listed in the budget as ‘royal emoluments and civil list’ is an increase on the E85.2 million he was given by Swazi taxpayers for the financial year 2007/2008.

The figures are part of the annual budget for Swaziland that was approved by the House of Assembly last week. Despite a week of debate in the House and extensive media coverage in Swaziland, the cost of the upkeep of King Mswati and his extended family has not been openly discussed.

To put that E130 million (13 million US dollars) into some context: in Swaziland 70 percent of the families of one million Swazi people live on less than E10 a day, while the Royal Family get by on a third of a million a day.

In the coming year, the total amount of income tax collected from individuals working in Swaziland is estimated to be E1,080 million, or put another way it means that each person who pays tax in the kingdom is giving more than E8 in every 100 to the king’s family.

This income doesn’t take into account any other income the king and his family may have. Last year (2008), Forbes estimated King Mswati’s wealth at 200 million US dollars (E2 billion at the present exchange rate).

During the budget debate it was also revealed that the upgrading of royal residences will cost E105 million.

I’d like to give you a definitive analysis of the rest of the budget estimates, but when you look at the official documents they make little sense. There seem to be some very basic errors made when simply moving data from one table of figures to another. For example, in an analysis of recurrent expenditure in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in 2009/10 expenditure is given as E265,632,000 but when the same sector appears in the ‘comparative summary’ table that figure has grown to E294,182,000. And similar ‘mistakes’ occur in all the other sectors as well.

To open the wound further the first table appears on page 7 and the second on page 8 so it’s not too difficult to spot something doesn’t add up.

I don’t know what’s going on, but last week I pointed out that Finance Minister Majozi Sithole believed that you could turn E28 million into E100 million in seven years if you got an annual interest of 10 percent.

Perhaps, that gives us a clue ....

ATTACKS ON SWAZI MEDIA FREEDOM

Swaziland’s media freedom is under attack like never before.

The kingdom’s top media watchdog, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), has issued 15 ‘alerts’ about violations of media freedom in the first two months of this year (2009).

Usually, MISA doesn’t expect to issue 15 alerts in a whole year.

In a statement, MISA said, ‘Swazi media has continued to operate under very difficult conditions and the situation turned for the worst during these first two months of the year. This may signal an even worse period for the media in the coming months of the year.’

According to MISA, the violations were mainly around harassment of journalists, censorship, intimidation and assault of media persons.

Among them is the continuing saga of Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule, a weekly columnist with the Times of Swaziland, who has received threats for criticising King Mswati III.

Also, in February 2009, the government threatened to charge with sedition anyone who criticized the state of the nation address delivered by the King. This followed a number of statements by media commentators that the King’s speech was stale and lacked substance.

For a summary of the alerts issued click here.

See also

SWAZILAND RESTRICTS PRESS FREEDOM