TERRORISM NOT ENCOURAGED WORLDWIDE - KING

LUDZIDZINI - His Majesty King Mswati III says terrorism is something that is not encouraged worldwide.

The King said people should live in harmony so that they could be able to develop their economies. The Monarch was responding when asked about the Commonwealth’s stance as far as terrorism was concerned. The question was: ‘‘How does the Commonwealth seek to deal with terrorism, as Eswatini Government has declared Swaziland News Editor Zweli Martin Dlamini and Swaziland News as terrorists.’’ Dlamini and Swaziland News (Pty) Ltd were classified as terrorist entities by Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini last Thursday.

Interjected

However, one of the media officer interjected and asked the journalist to stick to the King’s report on his visit to Rwanda and Singapore. “Buta ngeluhambo lwase Rwanda nase Singapore hhayi lokunye,” said the media officer in vernacular, loosely translating to mean: “Stick to the King’s visit to Rwanda and Singapore.” It should be noted that in his reports, the King mentioned that the Commonwealth and its member States were committed to joining hands in recovering economies which were affected by COVID-19 and other problems, which he, however, did not mention. It is a fact though that apart from COVID-19, Eswatini’s economy has been hugely affected by the ongoing political impasse which has seen public and private properties worth millions of Emalangeni being burnt down by unknown arsonists.

Arson

The arson attacks on the private and public properties have seen many people losing their jobs since the beginning of the calls for change. In a recent interview with Newzroom Africa, Dlamini declared his newspaper as a prodemocracy newspaper, which he said represented the views of the prodemocracy movement. He also stated that the stance by government was just propaganda which was aimed at silencing him and instilling fear among the prodemocracy movement. He stated that even though his newspaper was registered in South Africa, he would continue to hold the Government of Eswatini accountable. Even though the question was incomplete as a result of the interjection, the King said he was not yet informed about events that took place (in Eswatini) while on his work visit to Rwanda and Singapore.

He stated that as things stood, he might take the question as a briefing from the journalist who seemed aware of the latest developments. However, he said in general, terrorism was not encouraged worldwide. He stated that the Commonwealth was also concerned about terrorism as all people deserved to live in harmony so that they could be able to work towards improving their economies. The King also reported about the increase of Commonwealth membership from 54 to 56 countries. He stated that new members were Togo and Gabon. The Monarch said the main focus was on strategies aimed at strengthening relationships in dealing with the effects of COVID-19, among other challenges on the economies.

He stated that the commonwealth was committed to dealing with social issues which had been identified on the African continent and overseas during the pandemic. He said COVID-19 had resulted in many job losses and deaths across the globe, something he said was not good at all. The King said as Commonwealth member States, they also felt that strengthening technology, which became more effective in the economic drive during the course of COVID-19, could be the best solution. He stated that developed countries were willing to share their experiences with their member States so that they could not lose momentum.

Meeting

The King stated that there were many programmes shared during the course of the meeting. He also announced that Africa was left with two years to take over the secretariat from the other regions in the next elections. The King was welcomed by the prime minister, some Cabinet ministers, members of the royal family and the general public at the King Mswati III International Airport. The Monarch then proceeded to Ludzidzini Royal Residence where he reported about his first work visit to the two countries after two years due to COVID-19.  
Also noted was that security personnel were littered along the road leading to the international airport. Two helicopters were flying over the convoy.

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