Swaziland’s Director of Public Prosecutions Lincoln N’Garua said on Friday that he had no intention of withdrawing charges he laid against the country’s attorney-general Peshaya Dlamini, despite being threatened with dismissal and deportation. He also resigned in protest.
He said this in a letter responding to an ultimatum from Minister of Justice Chief Maweni Simelane, allegedly made in the presence a prominent chief close to King Mswati III, the Queen Mother Moi Moi Masilela and some senior government officials. The ultimatum was given on Thursday. The government has yet to respond.
N’Garua laid a charge of sedition against Dlamini after he (Dlamini) gave an ultimatum to the three high court judges hearing an application from the mother of a girl allegedly abducted by King Mswati III’s aides to be his 10th bride. Dlamini told the judges to drop the case or resign.
His four-page letter was hand-delivered to Simelane and copied to the Attorney-General and the Cabinet Secretary. N’Garua alleged that the ultimatum he received undermined and subverted the independence of the office he holds, and to which he was appointed by the King, offended against his personal professional ethics and integrity. It also placed him in an intolerable position.
He said he could not reasonably tolerate working under a government which could deliver such an ultimatum.
N’Garua said he would resign, but demanded that he be paid for his full contract, which extends to 2005. He also demanded that the Swazi government pay for his and his family’s return to his native country, Kenya. N’Garua said he would not leave his office until he had received full payment. – Sapa