Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Mswati III of Swaziland, on Monday celebrated 20 years of his reign by portraying himself as the kingdom’s unifying force.
Mswati also used the occasion to mark his 38th birthday although he was born on April 19.
”I am delighted that we are gathered here today to celebrate my birthday, which has become a unifying symbol to the Swazi nation, and I appeal to you to continue to work together as a nation,” Mswati told a packed stadium in the town of Nhlangano.
”If it were not for your support, I would not have been able to lead this country in the past 20 years, and I am happy to say that you diligently supported me and I hope that you will continue to support me,” he told the crowd after being driven into the stadium in an open Land Rover.
The king, whose free-spending ways in one of the world’s most Aids-prone countries have drawn criticism, chose to mark the 20th anniversary of his reign near the grave of his late father, King Sobhuza II, in Nhlangano, about 200km south of Mbabane.
More than half of the 1,1-million population lives below the breadline and about 40% of adults are HIV-positive, the highest rate in the world.
Mswati, dressed in a black and red military uniform, also referred to the new Constitution that came into force in February in the mountainous kingdom encircled by South Africa and Mozambique.
”We have managed to come with our own Constitution which is a reflection of what Swazis wanted …. I would like to appeal to the outside world to come to Swaziland so that they may understand how as a nation we have managed to live in harmony,” he said.
Mswati said in an interview ahead of the 20th-anniversary celebrations that a ban on opposition parties imposed by his father had been removed from the Constitution.
”There is nothing which says we ban parties,” he said.
Swaziland has in recent months been rocked by a string of firebombings of government offices and homes belonging to state officials.
A group of members of the People’s United Democratic Movement, which wants an end to Mswati’s autocratic rule, has been arrested and face treason charges for the unrest. — Sapa-AFP