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Wednesday 17 June 2009

SWAZI DISSIDENT ON ROYAL SPENDING

Swazi dissident Mfomfo Nkhambule continues to criticise King Mswati III and the ruling elite, despite fears that he is about to be arrested for sedition.

In his latest writing he says that the king has recently doled out 6,000 US dollars (about E60,000) to each of the surviving 20 sons and daughters of the late King Sobhuza III – which apparently is an annual ritual.

Unsurprisingly, Nkhambule questions whether this is the right way for the king to spend the money which he supposedly holds in trust for the ‘Swazi nation’.

But, Nkhambule says, really King Mswati just holds it in trust for the royal household.

Nkhambule writes on his website, ‘As far as I can recall the King is supposed to be without properties and assets as well as private funds because whatever he has he is holding it in trust for the Swazi nation. But again in Swaziland the majority of the Swazi people do not make up the Swazi nation. The Swazi nation is made up of princes and princesses together with chiefs and members of the royal household, everybody else is a subject with no fundamental human rights unless the King makes a pronouncement from the throne.

‘Being a subject means you do not exist in the “official books” of the Kingdom. This is why there is no unemployment benefit, money to pay for the children’s education and young persons’ education and training. This is why there is no food that is affordable to the majority of the people of Swaziland.

‘There is no shelter and health service for His Majesty’s subjects because they are not in the “official books” of the people of Swaziland. The society that has been set-up by the existing political set-up is not good for the survival of the majority and their children. The time to change the political set-up is long over due.’

To read the full article click here.

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