Poverty-stricken
textile workers in Swaziland say they have been selling their votes in the
forthcoming national election for cash and chicken pieces.
Sitting members of
parliament have sent their agents into factories to buy up votes during the
present registration process.
The Sunday
Observer reported (27 May 2018)
several textile workers from different firms in the industrial town of Matsapha
said they were willing to sell.
It reported one textile
worker saying, ‘Some of the current Members of Parliament have dispatched their
agents to our firm in Nhlangano to buy votes for as little as E50 and chicken
portions.’
It added the textile workers
were persuaded to register as residents of the surrounding areas as opposed to
their chiefdoms of origin. In Swaziland, people may register in any constituency
if they have stayed in the area for not less than three months.
‘Since most of the people
working in the firms are now renting flats in the neighbouring constituencies,
they are then targeted and persuaded to register to vote within their present
residential areas,’ the newspaper reported.
There have been reports of
corruption across Swaziland since registration began on 13 May 2018. At
Maphungwane in the Matsanjeni North Constituency, football teams rejected a
E10,000 (US$790) sponsorship from an aspiring member of parliament. The Swazi Observer reported (18 May 2018)
that the sponsorship was in the form of prize money that would be paid at the
end of the football season and after the election had been held.
The newspaper reported the
clubs’ representatives questioned the timing of the sponsorship and rejected
the offer. One club boss told the Observer
that aspiring MPs had also tried to manipulate them in the past.
Police in Swaziland are investigating possible election corruption concerning a former
government minister accused of bribing people with promises of food parcels for
their votes.
Elsewhere, residents at
Mbangweni complained
of nepotism when four
people selected to assist in the election were from the same family. The Swazi Observer reported Inkhosatana Gelane, the acting KoNtshingila chief,
saying they were ‘loyal and respectful residents’. The Shiselweni Regional
Administrator Themba Masuku is investigating.
See also
CONFUSION OVER VOTER NUMBERS
POLICE
PROBE ELECTION “CORRUPTION’
POOR START TO VOTER REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION
OPENS FOR SWAZI ELECTION
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