Kingdom of Swaziland

[IslandDweller]

The latest debacle involving Swaziland's king. I don't think any comment is necessary . Talk about power misapplied.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa...eut/index.html

[LaPlusBelle]

So who is his main wife, as in who does he bring along for state functions?
And how many children does he have?

[HRH Kerry]

I haven't found anything new since this article is from 9/25/2005.

Africa's last absolute monarch, Swaziland's King Mswati III, has picked his 13th wife, a palace spokesperson said Sunday...
http://www.zimobserver.com/newsdetai...rticle_id=1331

I will marry you once you're pregnant. Totally trifling!

[Vanesa]

Well...What can we said? Those articles comments themselves. We needn't to do further comments on them.

Vanesa.

[Toledo]

Swazi king opens up to opposition

[Toledo]

Swaziland: King speaks - says democracy too expensive
Mbabane, April 26, 2006
In a rare interview, sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch King Mswati of Swaziland said this week his country is not ready for political parties and criticised foreign governments for meddling in its internal affairs...

...Pro-democracy political groups, meanwhile, have not been able to operate since the promulgation of the new constitution. Police blocked a rally of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) in Manzini last month. The Women's League of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) was turned down by government officials when they attempted to register as an organisation.

[Toledo]

Swaziland: Beyond Royal Rule And Naked Reed Dances

ANALYSIS
April 28, 2006
Posted to the web April 27, 2006

On Monday, Swaziland's iron-fisted king threw himself another grand birthday party, and celebrated 20 years of his rule - although he was born on April 19.Unimpressed multi-party activists continue to light fire under the throne of King Mswati III - well-known for his fleet of luxurious cars, lavish spending, and his 13 wives, picked in the thrill of the annual Reed Dance (Umhlanga).

...The present monarchy therefore combines the worst excesses of colonial authoritarian government, with a thin veneer of traditional customs.Mswati's father, Sobhuza II, failed to sway the British to grant Swaziland independence on the basis of a purely monarchical system. So at independence in September 1968, the king caved in and agreed to a constitutional monarchy based on a parliamentary democracy with a prime minister and multi-party politics...

[Toledo]

Swaziland: A leisurely pace in tackling corruption

...In the mid-1990s, a series of high-profile corruption scandals, with no action taken against the perpetrators, prompted a public outcry that resulted in government establishing the Anti-Corruption Unit. However, a decade after it was set up, the unit had not brought a single culprit to book. Officials said they were hamstrung by a lack of legislation empowering them to undertake investigations and make arrests.

During the intervening decade, the economy has deteriorated, making the impact of corruption even more damaging. Two-thirds of Swaziland's one million people live below the poverty line, according to the United Nations Development Programme...

[Toledo]

News from the Kingdom of Swaziland:
His Majesty forms Chiefs Council
By Phinda Zwane

Quote from the above article
“...It is important that once a candidate has been identified, the name be brought forward for royal blessing. We have observed that the delay in so doing is detrimental to development. Those in charge out there should expedite the process of bringing the names forward.” The King said...

'Cabinet, MPs want to topple King'
from The Swazi Observer News

Quote from the above article
...This rather shocking statement was made yesterday by Ka-Ndwandwa Chief Magudvulela in the Hhohho region. “Your Majesty there are hiccups in the constitution. It is open to huge abuse. We have noted that some cabinet ministers and MPs are plotting to topple the King through this constitution. This is therefore a serious cause for concern to us as chiefs,” he said...

[Toledo]

Swaziland: Pro-democracy groups challenge executive monarchy in court
September 21, 2006

two quotes from the article:

"...The government is refusing to bow to a demand by the National Constituency Assembly (NCA), an umbrella organisation of pro-democracy advocates, that it release submissions made between 1996 and 2001 as part of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) process...

...Constitution making is inherently political. It is not an administrative act and, hence, it is not susceptible to review," said the government's opposing affidavit. It went on to say that the process was by royal decree, which mandated that all records remain sealed and therefore unavailable to the public..."

[Marengo]

Welcome to the thread dedicated to the royal family of Swaziland.

Arms of the Kingdom of Swaziland

~ ¤ ~

[Marengo]

From this wikipedia article:

Mswati III (born Makhosetive on April 19, 1968) of Swaziland is the king of Swaziland, and head of the Swazi Royal Family. In 1986, he succeeded his father, Sobhuza II, as absolute monarch; and in 2005, his role was modified only slightly as a constitutional monarch in this small south African state.

He is one of many sons of King Sobhuza II (who had 70 wives and at the time of his death left over 1000 grandchildren) and the only child of Ntombi Tfwala, also known as Inkhosikati LaTfwala, one of the King's younger wives. He was born at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital, four months before Swaziland attained independence from Britain. When he and his mother were discharged from the hospital they went to live at one of King Sobhuza's residences of Etjeni near Masundwini Palace. His birth name was Makhosetive (King of Nations).
As a young prince, Makhosetive attended Masundwini Primary School and Lozitha Palace School. He sat for the Swaziland Primary Certificate examination in December 1982 at Phondo Royal Residence and got a First Class with merit in Mathematics and English. He developed a great interest in the royal guard, becoming the first young cadet to join the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF).
When King Sobhuza II died in 1982, the Great Council of State ( the Liqoqo) selected the 14-year-old prince Makhosetive to be the next king. For the next four years two wives of the late King Sobhuza II, Queen Dzeliwe Shongwe (1982–1983) and Queen Ntombi Tfwala (1983–1986), served as regent while he continued his education in England, attending Sherborne School, before he was called back to take over.

He was introduced as Crown Prince in September 1983 and was crowned King on April 25, 1986, aged 18 years and 6 days, and thus making him the youngest reigning monarch. The king and his mother, whose title is Indlovukazi (Great She-Elephant), rule jointly.
Today he is Africa's last absolute monarch in the sense that he has the power to choose the prime minister, other top government posts and top traditional posts. Even though he makes the appointments, he still has to get special advice from the queen mother and council, for example when he chooses the prime minister. When it comes to appointing the cabinet, he gets advice from the prime minister. He inherited a rule by decree, but did restore the nation's Parliament, which had been dissolved by his father due to the chaos of the multiparty system, that was perceived as breaking the country apart at the time considering that the country had just got its independence.
The country has its own type of democracy called the Tinkhundla system and has a constitution which allows freedom of assembly and free speech for both the media and the public. The Swaziland media in conferences with other regional media houses (MISA) says it is free to report as it pleases.
In an attempt to mitigate the HIV and AIDS pandemic, the Mswati tried to intervene in the life of his subjects in a unique manner. In 2001, the King used his traditional powers to invoke a time-honoured chastity rite (umcwasho, which encouraged all Swazi maidens to abstain from sexual relations for five years. This rite (re-introduced after suggestion from NGOs), banned sexual relations for Swazis under 18 years of age from 9 September 2001 and 19 August 2005 , but in 2005, he violated this decree when he married a 17-year-old girl, who became his 13th wife. As per custom, he was fined a cow by members of her regiment, which he duly paid.

Read the entire article here.

[Marengo]

From royalblog.nl:

Swazi King outlaws planned Social Forum

Swaziland's absolute monarchy banned independent civil rights groups from meeting later this week, saying Tuesday that the gathering could be destabilizing.

The Southern Africa Social Forum was scheduled to take place Thursday, the same day King Mswati III was expected to appoint a new prime minister following parliamentary elections held last month that were denounced as a parody of democracy.

Read the entire article here.

[Al_bina]

My personal favourite is this article Swaziland protests over spending.

The march was staged to demonstrate against a shopping trip taken by nine of King Mswati III's 13 wives last week, after they chartered a plane to go to Europe and the Middle East.

The reason for the most important shopping trip:

A source is quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying: "The queens have to look radiant and that is why they have to go and buy quality for the big day [marking the 40th anniversary of independence from Britain and the 40th birthday of King Mswati]. They were being spoiled."

Mswati III's answer:

"I have never heard of women marching. All I know is that a woman has to seek permission from her husband to register her disagreement with whatever was happening in society but not for her to march. That is un-Swazi."

[Next Star]

The king is critized by the public for spending so much money and his country is one of the poorest in the world as well as highly infected with HIV/AIDS.And his eldest daughter dislikes him being married to muliptle woman at the same time.I read
of the history of this country men in Swaziland are known for having more than one wife.

[sirhon11234]

YouTube - Queens of Swaziland

[Marengo]

From royalblog.nl:

Mswati appoints PM who is against reforms

Swaziland's king has appointed a new prime minister who shares the absolute monarch's distrust of democracy campaigners. King Mswati III announced Sibusiso Dlamini as his prime minister at a rally attended by around 10,000 Swazis on Thursday.

Read the entire article here.

[carlota]

here's a picture of Queen Inkhosikati LaMbikiza of Swaziland at the african first ladies meeting in los angeles

[sgl]

A Swazi journalist has recently had his column removed from the Times of Swaziland newspaper due to his criticism of the government:

http://www.theroyalforums.com/5680-p...spaper-column/

[wedmonds]

I have a question...I recently went online and read that King Mswati III of Swaziland made the Forbes Richest Royals List. He was last in line, but he was on the list with a whopping $200 M. USD wealth. The Swazi Royal Family is known to have somewhere around 200-500 royals in the family. That all bear the title Prince/Princess and HRH. How does he keep that entire family in palaces and BMW's the way that he does with just two hundred million. You would think that the money would run out if you were taking care of all of those people...

So my question to you all is how do you think he does it. One of his daughters goes to school here in the U.S. and she drives a Bently. How in the heck is he able to pay all of this. Taking care of hundreds of people?

I have known people here in the US to win the lottery with fifty million and run through that in two years. Spending their money the same way he spends his. So how in the world does he do what he does?...Just a thought...