Dictator of the Month:
February, 2005Dictator of the Month:
February, 2005
| King
Mswati III
Take me to the picture gallery Fact Sheet Name: King Mswati III (Makhosetwe)
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Biography Born on 19 April, 1968 with the name Makhosetwe (King
of Nations), the now-King Mswati III was the only child of Ntombi Thwala,
a young wife of the elderly King Sobhuza. When his father died of pneumonia in 1982, the royal
council chose the 14-year-old prince Makhosetwe to be the next king. For
the next four years two female relatives served as regent, Queen Dzeliwe
Shongwe (1982-1983) and Queen Ntombi Thwala (1983-1986) while he continued
with his education, attending the English Sherborne School. He was introduced as crown prince in September 1983
and was crowned king on April 25, 1986. The king and his mother, whose
title is Ndlovukazi (Great She-Elephant), rule jointly. Today he is Africa's last absolute monarch. He rules
by decree, and is strongly opposed to democratisation of his country,
though he did restore the nation's parliament, which had been dissolved by
his father. It should be noted that political parties in Swaziland are
illegal, and King Mswati has refused to reverse this decision. Looking more like a model or actor, King Mswati is
described as arrogant, a trait that his father and grandfather were also
known for; despite this, he is also known for always appearing in public
with a smile. He is also known for his having 10 wives, which has drawn
sharp criticism from opponents, considering that he is the role model of a
country whose AIDS infection rate has jumped to more than 25%, including
70,000 AIDS orphans. Despite the horrific AIDS crisis and terrible
conditions in Swaziland including food shortages, Mswati considered buying
himself a
private jet airplane in 2001 for $45 million, but these plans were
eventually cancelled; he has also petitioned the
legislature for $15 million in funds for the construction of a grand
palace to house his relatives. Mswati has found himself under increasing stress in
the past few years, partly due to his enormous family obligations (15
children, 200 brothers, et al.) and partly due to the poverty conditions
in his country. Mswati’s control over Swaziland, although
undisputed in legitimacy, seems to be lacking in effectiveness, as he has
repeatedly been openly misled by his advisors and has admitted to signing
decrees without reading them. For example, in 2001 Mswati banned certain
periodicals, only to admit later that he never read the decree. After the
ban was overturned by the High Court of Swaziland, Mswati refused to
reverse the ban and allowed for the confiscation of the periodicals. Mswati has also eliminated bail for certain crimes, including unlawful public demonstrations and has made punishments for defamation of the government much stricter. Original Article written by www.dictatorofthemonth.com with some excerpts taken from www.wikipedia.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mswati_III Parts taken from Wikipedia are subject to the GNU-FDL license for free documentation Sources: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2001/07/10/swazil70.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/3608903.stm
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