I have often said that the leadership of Swaziland is not in touch with the people on the ground and some have felt that I have something against the ruling class may be due to the fact that I was removed from the first table and thrown outside the fence of the homestead.
It would be a total waste of time for me to harbor ill feelings against those who did what they felt was appropriate at that particular point in time. I am not the kind of individual who would enjoy hitting back at other individuals. I would rather use my time and energy doing something to benefit the majority of the Swazi people. I am not the kind of person who would make it my duty to look at those who thrive on serving the interests of the minority.
A few weeks ago, the sons and daughters of King Sobhuza ll (who passed in 1982) got their annual handshake from King Mswati lll. In the past years they have been getting over $6 000 (US) per year. They have been complaining that this amount is very small. This amount was given to all of those that are still alive, working or not. This year’s amount has been doubled. The good thing about these sons and daughters (who are about 20 in number) is that they make sure they tell everyone who listens. I do not know why they are being paid. One thing I am sure of is that there must be plenty where this money is coming from. If their package has been revised upward then there is a better package for the King’s sons and daughters because they cannot get less than their uncles and aunties. I wonder what is the motive of giving them this money? Is the King under pressure to make them not raise issues that hurt him? Is the King trying to stop them from joining those that are not happy with the status quo? One prince told me that this money is the one that is dividing the household because it is also given to those that are in full time employment such as those that the king has appointed into ministerial positions and those that are serving in various committees.
May be as a Swazi you may say that this matter has nothing to do with good governance and the majority of the people of Swaziland. You may also think that the King has a right to use the money that he inherited from his father as he pleases. But the number one duty of the King is to serve the interests of the majority of the Swazi people. 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.
Mfomfo
16 June 09
Tags: African Poverty, Child Poverty, Freedom, Human Rights, Inhlava, King Mswati III, Politics, Swaziland
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