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24-HR SECURITY FOR ALL NATIONS ARCHBISHOP

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MBABANE – The mystery surrounding the heavy police presence and tight security afforded to All Nations Church in Zion’s Archbishop Bheki Lukhele has been explained.

According to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), the life of the archbishop is believed to be under threat, hence law enforcement officers have been dispatched to guard him 24 hours a day. The Times of Eswatini newsroom had been inundated with calls from the past week, from members of the public and neighbours to the archbishop’s residence in Ezulwini, who wanted to know why heavily armed police officers were always spotted within the premises of the clergyman, who doubles as president of Mbabane Swallows. Pictures have been circulated on some social media platforms, showing police officers believed to be from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) guarding the premises of the man of the cloth.

Offices

Also, last Friday afternoon, Lukhele arrived heavily-guarded at the team offices in Mbabane when he had come to officially unveil the team’s new Mercedes Benz Sprinter bus, which he had bought in Johannesburg, South Africa. This journalist later gathered that the individuals spotted with rifles and 9mm pistols, as well as handheld transceivers (HT), were actually police officers. The latest developments regarding the security details of the bishop were confirmed by the National Commissioner (NatCom) of Police William Dlamini. Dlamini said Lukhele’s life was under threat, which was why the State had provided him with security. “It is true that we have provided him with security, but we will not be saying why,” Dlamini explained. He added that they provided security to someone when there were threats to his or her life, which he said was the case with Lukhele.

“Sitsi labo labanekubeka imphilo yakhe engotini abakhweshe ngoba sekunemlilo eceleni kwabo,” he said in vernacular, which could be loosely translated to mean, “We want to strongly warn those who have put his (Bishop Lukhele’s) life under threat to immediately stop because we are watching them closely.” Asked on how long the security will be provided to Lukhele, the national commissioner said only time would determine how long they provided the bishop with security. “Until we are sure that the threat has been neutralised, we will provide him with security,” said Dlamini. There has been a lot of speculation on why the bishop’s life is under threat, with many people linking it to his businesses, while others speculated that it could be due to his football dealings. Details on these insinuations will not be shared as none of them could be proven.

Mbabane Swallows Communications and Marketing Manager Mancoba Mabuza was also reached for comment on the matter and he said; “I do not have a mandate to talk about security detail of the club’s president.” He had been asked if they were aware as a team that the bishop’s life was under threat. Police had earlier been contacted on the matter and Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni said they had not allocated any security for Lukhele. “There is no security detail allocated to the bishop. We have no arrangement to provide security for him,” Mnguni was earlier quoted. She added that the bodyguard clad in a face mask with a police emblem was not part of the police service, stating that he probably received it (mask) as a gift from a relative who was with the police service.

The bishop was also called to shed light on why he was of the view that his life was in danger to the point of feeling the need for security personnel to guard him, to which he said; “I do not see any security, is there anyone who sees security? When I arrived, the one person I saw was the team governor, Andreas Lukhele, who led me in.” This was last Friday during the unveiling of the Sprinter belonging to Mbabane Swallows. He did not wish to entertain further questions regarding the issue of the security detail.
Noteworthy is that Lukhele’s predecessor, former businessman and the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Chairman Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze was gunned down in broad daylight at the Galp Filling Station on January 14, 2018. Lukhele’s right-hand man at church, Party Bhiya politely asked not to comment on Lukhele’s security detail and referred questions to Swallows’ Governor Andreas or the PRO, Mabuza. “May I not comment on that, please contact the governor or Mancoba,” he said briefly.
Meanwhile, the team governor’s mobile phone repeatedly rang unanswered when called several times yesterday. Attempts were made to reach the bishop again yesterday, but these proved futile.

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