Swaziland’s chief justice and its top prosecutor have apparently been forced to step down following an unprecedented clash between the southern African nation’s modern court system and its absolute monarchy.
The government placed advertisements in the state-run Swazi Observer on Wednesday seeking applicants to fill the positions.
However, neither Chief Justice Stanley Sapire nor Lincoln Ng’arua, director of public prosecutions, have officially been fired.
”I’m surprised my post is being advertised without my
knowledge,” Sapire said, adding that until he heard otherwise from the king, he would stay on in his post.
Ng’arua said he would resign rather than succumb to government pressure to drop charges against the attorney general. He said his lawyer was currently negotiating a resignation package with the government, but that he would only step down once terms were agreed to.
Ng’arua, originally from Kenya, charged Attorney-General Phesheya Dlamini with sedition and obstruction of justice for demanding that three judges, including Sapire, dismiss a suit against the royal family or resign. The judges refused.
In the lawsuit, a woman sought to prevent King Mswati III from taking her daughter as his 10th wife.
The lawsuit had not named the king, who is above the law, but said several members of the royal family defied tradition and the law in taking the woman’s daughter.
The lawsuit was suspended earlier this month and Dlamini formally apologised to the judiciary for his threat. Ng’arua decided to charge him anyway.
Ng’arua said he had informed the government he would step down if a resignation package could be negotiated.
Government officials insisted there was ”nothing sinister” about placing the advertisements for Sapire and Ng’arua’s jobs.
”The government felt that it could be unwise for the incumbents to end their terms of office before issuing the adverts,” said Hugh Magagula, a justice ministry official said.
Ng’arua’s contract is only set to expire in 2005 and Sapire, after recently reaching the country’s official retirement age of 65, had his contract extended indefinitely by the king.
Ng’arua said he was locked out of his office when he came to work on Wednesday morning.
Human rights group Amnesty International said the Swazi government’s recent actions against legal officials undermined the rule of law in the country. – Sapa-AP