Public services throughout Swaziland / eSwatini are
close to meltdown as the government, handpicked by absolute monarch King Mswati
III, fails to get a grip on the economy. Health services have been especially
hit over the past three months with reports that people have died as medicines
run out because the government did not paid suppliers. Drugs for HIV are in
short supply, even though the kingdom has the highest rate of infection in the
world. Patients in public hospitals have also gone unfed.
These are some of the reports that have appeared on
the Swazi Media Commentary
website in the second quarter of 2019 and are contained in a new
compilation, Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Vol 34 April to June 2019 that
can be downloaded
free-of-charge from Scribd. Also included: the International Trade Union
Confederation placed Swaziland near the bottom of countries across the world
for workers’ rights. It said in the past year ‘police
brutality reached unprecedented levels’ and ‘security forces fired live
ammunition at protesting workers’. Elsewhere, public service unions marched on
the government demanding cost-of-living salary increases.
The absolute monarch King Mswati maintained his
grip on power by appointing 28 members of his family to the
kingdom’s committees and boards, including 10 princes and princesses to
the 23-member Liqoqo, a supreme traditional advisory body which is also known
as the Swazi National Council Standing Committee. This was in addition to the
eight members of his Royal Family he appointed to the Senate and six to the
House of Assembly last year.
Meanwhile, the United States in its annual report
on human rights in Swaziland found there was no appetite to
investigate human rights abuses or corruption. Swaziland was controlled by the
King and ‘political power remained largely vested with the king and his
traditional advisors,’ the report, stated.
Swazi
Media Commentary is published online, updated most weekdays. It is operated
entirely by volunteers and receives no financial backing from any organisation.
It is devoted to providing information and commentary in support of human
rights in Swaziland.
See also
Swaziland
in economic freefall with human rights failings, report shows
King Mswati in complete control as another year of
human rights struggle ends in Swaziland
Police
violence, undemocratic elections, hunger and disease: highlights of Swaziland’s
human rights violations
Swaziland:
Striving for freedom
Swaziland Striving for Free... by on Scribd
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