ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

ISSUE/EDITION Nr 378 - 15/11/1999

CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS

Swaziland

Twisting the King's arm

by Vuyisile S. Hlatshwayo, Swaziland, October 1999

THEME = DEMOCRACY

INTRODUCTION

Swaziland's bumpy road to democracy appears to be nothing more than a mirage

This became abundantly clear to all and sundry, when King Mswati III launched a 25-year National Development Strategy (NDS) aimed at putting Swaziland in the top 10% of middle income developing countries by the year 2022. The Strategy as it now stood was launched to the great dismay of the entire Swazi nation, and sponsors of democratic reforms in Swaziland, including the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The UNDP was especially miffed because it had forked out a considerable sum of money to launch this important national development exercise.

What had happened? King Mswati III had succumbed to pressure from traditionalists in the Swazi National Council Standing Committee (SNCSC), his traditional advisory body, to trim down his project. Launching the now thinned-down NDS policy-framework on 27 August, King Mswati III tried to appease the disgruntled stakeholders, by assuring them that he would organise his popular people's parliament, a gathering of all Swazis at the cattle byre at the traditional Ludzidzini Headquarters, to afford them a chance to discuss its contents and its implementation. In Swazi tradition, if there is a serious national issue which needs to be discussed, the King summons the nation to the cattle byre [kraal] at the traditional headquarters of Ludzidzini. Over the past years, King Mswati III has dubbed such national gatherings, People's Parliament. During the People's Parliament, all Swazis, from all walks of life meet in Ludzidzini to deliberate on such national issues.

The King announced: "I will soon be summoning the nation to the cattle byre where the document will be officially launched before the entire nation. It will be in both languages to enable all of us to read it with a clear understanding. Everyone will be afforded a chance to say a word on the NDS and come out with ideas on how it can be implemented in a proper manner." The King further urged the nation to be part of the drive to boost the relatively ailing economy. He highlighted that the launch was marking the start of the 25-year road to prosperity.

Whatever the assurances the King made, great disappointment was on the faces of all those looking for democratic reform. 10 years of sweat and toil had gone into drawing up a 1000-page document, only to find it had been censored without their consent by a few conservative politicians.

Fundamental provisions withdrawn - Amongst the fundamental provisions withdrawn from the original NDS document, we find:

• Promoting an environment that allows free political expression and clear guidance on the political process until a new constitutional settlement is reached.
• Ensuring that all bodies and processes leading to constitutional-making have wide representation and legitimacy.
• Establishing structures for promoting broad participation in the politics of land, to ensure full participation of all formations in the formation of a Constitution or set of national conventions.
• Mounting educational campaigns on constitutionalism to ensure the empowerment of the people and their effective participation in the process. This will further ensure that the formation of the Constitution involves all who care for the nation's future and that the Constitution is based on national consensus.
• Establishing structures with the full support of the people (such as a constitutional assembly and constitutional court) to ensure full participation of the people in the debate on the drafting of the Constitution.
• Guaranteeing freedom of opinion and expression for all sections of the society including the Media.

Criticism - The arbitrary removal of the chapters on politics by the government, without anyone's consent, has attracted an avalanche of stinging criticisms from a cross-section of the Swazi people.

• A group from the Ngwane National Liberation Congress (NNLC) led by Nimrod Malaza, decried the deletion from the NDS document of the clauses permitting free political activity and the Bill of Rights. The Congress warned that the country was heading for a bloody revolution.
• The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) also condemned the omission of the chapters on governance and politics. The SNAT blasted Prime Minister Dr Sibusiso Dlamini for reneging on his promises that his government was committed to the NDS.
• The Human Rights Association of Swaziland (HUMARAS) condemned the traditionalists and government for ill-advising and feeding the monarch with lies.

The advocates for the NDS had earlier resolved to ask King Mswati to personally forward Chapter Eight of the document, which deals with constititutionalism and good governance, to the Constitutional Review Commission for implementation.

It looks as if the Swazi nation will be saddled with a 25-year National Development Strategy document that reflects only the wishes and needs of a minority clique surrounding King Mswati III - these are people who twisted the King's arm to serve their own selfish ends.

END

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