Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s premierminister har nedlagt forbud mod demonstrationer, som er arrangeret til på tirsdag.
Dlamini warned, “Government will ensure that the country remains peaceful. To this end, the security forces will be deployed to maintain law and order.”
His statement issued Thursday (07.04.11) in a newsletter dedicated to the affairs of the tiny Sourthern African nation, says that those wanting to protest had not been given permission to do so. He said in Swaziland, ‘any strike or protest action must be registered and given permission in accordance with the law’.
He went on, ‘Government has now learned that the formations in question have not complied with the procedures and notices prescribed by the relevant legislation. This then renders the protest action illegal. We do not, therefore, expect any individual to participate in any such proposed protest action.
‘Government accordingly strongly warns those organizing, and intending to participate in, the protest action to refrain from doing so and continue in their normal day-to-day business.’
The Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO) was quick to condemn the government action.
‘We note with concern the extra-judicial nature of this order and that the PM has once again shown disregard for the court processes that had not been completed at this time. His actions can only be seen to be deliberately provocative and contrary to good sense and sensible governance,’ it said.
To read the full banning order, go to this link.
http://www.scribd.com/full/52497154?access_key=key-8wzyg3ayhgdvxsuhfyw
(At the time this newsletter was distributed it was not clear whether protesters would defy the government and go ahead with the uprising. For updates on the situation go to www.swazimedia.blogspot.com)
SWAZILAND GIVER UDENLANDSKE DIPLOMATER EN OPSANG
The Swaziland Government Wednesday brought more than 30 diplomats to the Foreign Ministry. Cabinet minister Ntuthuko Dlamini accused the diplomats, who are based in either Swaziland or Mozambique, of supporting Swazi people who wanted to bring down the government.
In what the Times of Swaziland Thursday (7 April 2011) described as a ‘tirade’, Dlamini accused the present ambassadors, high commissioners and other diplomats of ‘taking advantage of “small” and “poor” Swaziland by capitalising on her small mistakes’.
He accused the diplomats of meeting with pro-democracy campaigners and members of organisations the Swazi government, handpicked by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, have declared terrorist.
The Times reported him saying, ‘We say people should disassociate themselves from the banned political parties or whatever you call them. Then we find some of you, Your Excellencies, sitting and having dinner with these people. You cannot be seen to be with my enemy and still think I appreciate your presence and anything that you do. It is naturally wrong.’
Dlamini made specific reference to the mass protest on 18 March 2011 that called for the resignation of the entire government.
Dlamini went on to tell the envoys that their beliefs and way of doing things are not good for Swaziland.
He told the diplomats about ‘some countries where anyone caught wearing a T-shirt bearing the image of Osama Bin Laden would be taken to task. He said here in Swaziland, anyone wearing the same T-shirt would not be bothered’.
What he did not say was that in Swaziland, as in the case of Sipho Jele in May 2010, you can be arrested for wearing a T-shirt with a PUDEMO slogan and end up dead three days later hanging from the ceiling in a washroom of a government correctional facility.
Ntuthuko Dlamini then told the diplomats that Swaziland needed their support, ‘but it will not be dictated to’.
He said if the envoys and the countries they represent have money, they should give it to Swaziland.
Lutfo Dlamini then gave a presentation on Swaziland’s economic woes and begged the diplomats for financial aid to get the economy out of its mess: ‘Donor budget support would go a long way in helping the kingdom’s ailing economy,’ he told them.
He said Swaziland currently gets about four percent of its budget from donors and he hoped the donor budget support could be increased.
The Swazi Observer reported that the diplomats were given a chance to speak at the end, but only one chose to do so.
Kilde: News from and about Swaziland, compiled by Africa Contact (Denmark) in collaboration with Swazi Media Commentary (www.swazimedia.blogspot.com), and sent to all with an interest in Swaziland.
Se også telegrammet
http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/07-04-11/swaziland-facebook-protest-i-vente-demokratifork-m
