Please lie to the king and destroy the country

The King has been lied to, many times, by all types of people, including pastors, busi-nesspeople, traditionalists, even those close to him.

Unfortunately, each time you lie to HMK, he smiles and encourages you to tell more lies.

But I know that you want to protect your position. So, please go ahead and lie to the King. Tell HMK that Swazis hate him, except you.

That Tinkhundla is highly effective, well organised and well understood by all. Swazis do not want democracy. They hate the monarch. They want to make him a toothless statue. Ban and destroy all political parties. Anyone seen wearing a PUDEMO shirt should be locked in a prison cell and left to die. That people are not for a constitutional monarch, and parliamentarians do not want to form their own political parties too.

Tell HMK that people can easily distinguish between Ingwe-nyama, the King, the Head of State and Lomudze, within this dual system. That people know Labadzala, Sigodlo, Indlunkulu, Bukhosi and bakaNgwane.

That his name and status is never abused at the expense of the nation.

That Mfomfo, MP Marwick Khumalo and Mkhombe are all sellouts. Jan Sithole, Mario Masuku, Musa Hlophe, Vincent Ncongwane, Quinton Dlamini and Sibane deserve to rot in jail.

The thousands of people who normally protest in the streets of Swaziland are foreigners. Parents can afford to pay university fees.

Sikhuphe International Air-port will make millions in pro-fits. People need to be evicted from KaShali, Luyengweni and other farms, whenever excavators have enough fuel. All have access to the media.

The nation is happy about the current MTN and SPTC impasse. People are happy seeing the precious iron ore leaving the country without being processed. Swaziland does not lose E80 million per month through corruption.

Police don’t heavily interrogate suspects, but the suspects decide to bang their heads against the walls and die while police are away for lunch. That Asians operating supermarkets, restaurants, gene-ral dealers, spaza phones, etc are all investors.

Make sure you don’t tell the King to visit Zimbabwe, Egypt, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. Don’t tell HMK to get advice from Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama. But be warned, His Majesty the King is very wise.

Research of The Week

In 2008, the Kingdom of Swaziland held the first elections under a new constitutional dispensation. This is the constitution of 2005, which according to its preamble; "blends the good institutions of traditional law and custom with those of an open and democratic society".

To conduct a legal analysis of the general elections of 2008, under the constitution of 2005. This paper will consider whether the general elections were free and fair.

A more descriptive study, with emphasis on using detailed interviews and reviewing docu-ments.

n The Commission must not only appear independent but, must be independent to be able to retain its autonomy and public confidence.

n Those appointed into electoral institutions, must have been appointed in accordance with both domestic and regional law, so as to confer legitimacy not only on the composition of the institution but also to the execution of its mandate.

n The EBC must engage the services of voluntary associations, civic organisations and nongove-rnmental organisations to engage the citizens in civic voter education.

n The starting point would be the establishment of the commission on human rights by the Tinkhu-ndla system of governance in accordance with Section 163 (1) of the Constitution of 2005.

n Of great importance to the system is the introduction and upholding of genuine democratic principles to the nature of the system. This requires a multi-party environment or alterna-tively some platform to the opposition, like in Lesotho another kingdom, where political parties are recognised.

n Like in Lesotho, the prime minister must be appointed from among members of the House of Assembly. This would create a link between the electorate and government and to a certain extent improve government’s accountability to the electorate.

n The 2008 constitutional elections in the kingdom seemed to be a selection process rather than an election, thus depriving the whole exercise credibility.

n The chief factors which contributed to the illegitimacy of the elections exercise was the intolerant, undemocratic nature of the Tinkhundla system of governance. The non-existence of an opposition casts doubt on the democratic value of the system.

n There are many systems in the world that hold elections which have a doubtful character and Swaziland is one of them.

n One notes that the 2008 general elections were doomed to be a ‘circus’ from the onset. This is clear in the unconstitutional appointment and composition of the EBC. If the appointment of those charged with providing free and fair elections is contrary to the supreme law of the land, then how will the elections be branded genuine and authentic?

n The report by the SADC Observer Mission that elections in the Kingdom of Swaziland were free and fair is suspect. It must be remembered that this is the same mission which conclu-ded that the March 29 Zimbabwe presidential elections were free and fair. This speaks volumes about the observer mission itself. The observer mission only stated that the elections were without violence. It did not consider aspects of the electoral exercise.

n It is worth mentioning that if the ruling elite persist in maintaining an outdated poli-tical system in the name of upholding incoherent, suppre-ssive traditional values, the whole society is exposed to the dangers of the revolutionary change.

n The constitution itself failed to protect or guarantee political rights. It contained a number of contradictions in both letter and spirit, in particular chapter lll. The rights of assembly and association guaranteed in Section 25 are limited in section 79. The section limits partici-pation in the electoral process on an individual basis only. This goes against the global trend of interpretation of freedom of association and assembly which caters for political parties as well.

n Unfortunately the constitu-tion of 2005 failed to guarantee free and fair elections.

n Finally, I noted that Section 2 (2) of the constitution of 2005 provides that the king shall uphold and defend this consti-tution. It is my belief that just like in the Kingdom of Lesotho, multiparty democracy can co-exist with a monarchy. But of necessity there must be separa-tion of powers and adherence to the rule of law, coupled with respect for fundamental human rights.

Next week we are publishing your research.

Be blessed!

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