In his first meeting with a high-ranking US official in a year, Swaziland’s King Mswati III was told of Washington’s concern that the slow pace of democratic reform might compromise the kingdom’s trade links with the United States, at great cost to economic progress.
“We discussed the food crisis, the impact of HIV/Aids on the Swazi people, and the division between the courts and government,” William Bellamy, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said at a press conference that concluded his visit to the country this week.
The US has been among Swaziland’s international partners dismayed by Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini’s blocking of Court of Appeal orders that the palace objected to.
One ruling called for the jailing of the police commissioner for contempt of court because he refused a high court order to permit 200 people evicted from their ancestral lands by Mswati, to return home.
The second appeal court ruling stripped Mswati of his powers to rule by decree, a power that the court said had no basis in law.
The court bench resigned en masse in protest which inflamed a rule of law crisis that began when Attorney-General Phesheya Dlamini, another royal appointee, allegedly told high court judges they would be fired if they did not drop the case of a mother suing the palace for the return of her teenage daughter, allegedly abducted to become Mswati’s tenth wife.
“It’s just not a healthy situation,” Bellamy said.
In his discussion with the king, Bellamy said: “I noted that Swaziland has received more publicity than usual and caught more attention internationally in recent weeks which was not favourable. We talked about the negative image that resulted from these discrepancies between the judiciary and the Swazi institutions.”
A source at the Human Rights Association of Swaziland objected to Bellamy’s classification of the crisis saying: “Government running roughshod over rule of law is not an ‘image’ problem. It is a substantive problem, and it goes to the heart of having a country where autocrats have the last word, not the law.”
A source at the US embassy in Mbabane told Irin: “There are realities underlying perceptions. Bellamy was giving government a way forward. He was not passing judgment, he was saying here is a problem, now fix it.”
According to the Times of Swaziland on Thursday the king has ordered his advisors and cabinet to find a compromise to the courts impasse.
“If government does not respect our decisions, what role do we play?” asked Chief Justice Stanley Sapire at the annual high court opening ceremony last week, not attended by any government officials.
Earlier this week Dlamini left Swaziland for an unknown destination hours ahead of contempt of court papers being served on him. The justice ministry acknowledged his absence, but would only say he was on a trip to other nations in the Southern African Development Community seeking advice on the courts crisis.
However, the king also heard assurances from Bellamy that the US would not abandon the small and impoverished southern African country.
Swaziland’s participation in the American Growth and Opportunities Act is conditional on Mswati’s commitment to political change and Swazi business leaders have already petitioned Washington not to permit the kingdom to lose its trade benefits on which the country’s exports increasingly depend.
Bellamy assured Mswati of American commitment to help the kingdom fight its daunting HIV/Aids problem, which currently finds 38,6% of the adult population living with HIV/Aids.
The US would also remain the major donor of food aid as Swaziland’s food security crisis continues to affect at least 287 000 people. – Irin