By Zweli Martin Dlamini

King Mswati must know that a regime where the Head of State like him, was not elected by the people, is an illegitimate Government and therefore, it must be overthrown or removed.

Furthermore, a regime that kills people merely for protesting in demand for democratic reforms has no place in global democracy or politics and therefore, it must be overthrown and replaced with an elected Government mandated by the people to govern through a social contract.

Mswati told the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council(PSC) held on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations(UN) General Assembly in New York-United States this week that, attempts to remove legitimate Governments through coups must be rejected but the question is; who elected him to lead this country as the Head of State and how many votes he amassed to be in power?.

It is important to state that, almost all the African or even European countries were previously ruled by absolute Monarchies who were oppressing the people but, those Kings were removed and some of them were killed by the people during protests.

In this country, people are oppressed, they are hungry with no jobs and business opportunities, it’s just a matter of time before they rebel against this oppressive Monarchy.

We have been warning King Mswati to prioritize the needs of the people but he refused to listen hoping to rule through the barrel of a gun and now, he is worried about a coup instead addressing the mess he created in this country by institutionalizing corruption and oppression.

The Monarchy must open the dialogue table and lead the process of ushering this country into a new democratic dispensation otherwise, the future of this traditional institution is bleak under King Mswati’s leadership.

Indeed, the future of this country under Mswati looks sad, hopeless, and offers no encouragement or expectation of good things, it’s a situation that is unlikely to improve and characterized by depression, darkness, and despair.

Well, some of us were hoping that maybe, the Monarchy will exist under a constitutional democracy where the King is ceremonial but seemingly, Mswati is of the view that a gun or killing all those demanding democracy will work in his favour.

But historically, there’s no Monarchy in the world that successfully stood against the people by resisting change, the will of the people always triumph and some Monarchies or Kings were removed at the time when they felt they were strong.

It is important to remind Mswati that, the United States(US) that is protecting his Tinkhundla undemocratic regime does not have permanent friends but permanent interests and therefore, there will come a time when the US foreign policy would shift in favour of the calls for democratic reforms.

Perhaps, let me advise the King to build a legacy by leading the process of democratizing this country, people are suffering because the country is being destroyed by corruption, no drugs in public hospitals and the education system is collapsing.

As a result, there would come a time when people will decide if they want to die while fighting for their rights or perish in deep silence.

The King’s statement urging the United Nations(UN) and the African Union to reject coups is an indication that, he is worried about being removed from power and it’s not a surprise, dictators are always worried because they know that they have wronged the people.

But maybe, Mswati is prophesying his removal and let’s hope he won’t be killed in the process like other previous Kings who were ruling some parts of Europe and the African continent, that would be very unfortunate.