On the 16 of September 2013 at 12 pm, Mr Fungayi Mabhunu and Miss Nqobile Tsabedze represented Swaziland vigil UK at the Chatham house discussing about Swaziland and the book (project) written by Christopher Vandome,Alex Vines and Markus Weimer titled Swaziland: Southern Africa’s forgotten crisis.Represantatives from Commonwealth,Amnesty International,Swazilang programme manager,SADC and a lot more attended. They talked about why should the international community care. How the Swaziland’s development trajectory is worrying. How the goverment has made little progress in boosting the economy’s resilence to fiscal shocks. They talked about the parliamentary elections taking place on the 20th September 2013 that they are unlikely to have much much tangible impact in the short term. Particularly as most decisions are made by appointed officials rather than elected represantatives. They also talked about commomwealth and SADC monitoring the elections on the 20 September and to see the monarchial democracy the King Mswati had a vision about. They said they were expecting a new goverment, new prime minister and a reformed Swaziland. Our comments are inline with what has been said by the Swaziland democratic campaign, when they say “The [Chatham House] report on Swaziland is chronically deficient. It places all possibilities for change on the worsening economic situation, and the unsustainable route being followed by the Royal Elite,” says the Swaziland Democracy Campaign. “It argues that it will be impending financial ruin and not peoples’ power that will eventually bring King Mswati to his senses.”
Their only purpose is to manipulate the situation in favour of modern day imperial interests,” said The Communist Party of Swaziland’s General Secretary, Kenneth Kunene. “If Chatham House was really worried about democracy in Swaziland, why doesn’t it come out in support of the pro-democracy movement. Not even the IMF thinks that the crisis has compelled to bring Mswati any nearer to giving up power”.
And even if Chatham House is not being intentionally neo-imperialist in its recommendations, they are at the very least being “neutral”. And in countries such as Swaziland, neutrality is in effect siding with the status quo of Mswati’s absolute rule.
By Miss Nqobile Tsabedze