When King Mswati’s government declared a State of Emergency during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, private companies and international organisations donated about E500million, part of that money was subsequently stolen through royal linked companies that received tenders from the National Disaster Management Agency ( NDMA).
Now, government has imposed a lockdown, closing businesses and denying people their rights without a clear framework on how to fight the pandemic, instead, Cabinet is hopelessly waiting for donations that are likely to be scarce this time as more companies and international organisations are now well informed that corruption in Eswatini has been legitimised.
Perhaps, let me clarify that the purpose of a lockdown is to enable the government to mitigate the spread of the virus while gathering more resources to strengthen the health system, but the King’s Government imposed a lockdown hoping to receive more donations, the intention is not to help the people but to steal.
It is very disturbing that a government that utilised over E6billion of public funds to build an International Convention Centre(ICC) for King Mswati is now struggling to procure COVID-19 vaccines worth a mere E200million just because this will help the citizens.
Acting Prime Minister,Senator Themba Masuku, a long serving opportunist of the regime recently announced through a press statement that E200million would be used to procure the vaccines, perhaps he was playing politics and is regretting issuing that statement because the public is now expecting the vaccines.
But then, despite that Masuku is an experienced opportunist, we need to understand that he made the announcement on behalf of the King, Cabinet Ministers are restricted from thinking or taking decisions that touched on money without consulting King Mswati who elevated himself as the only human being with the right to think.
It is of paramount importance to state that as the COVID-19 third wave looms, our country will soon be in another crisis of losing citizens including high profile people because the Head of State who has been described as a leader who cares for all Swazis is now refusing to release resources including money to purchase quality vaccines and working equipment for health workers, instead he wants to use the plight of the citizens to get more donations for himself.
I am not a health expert, it is outside my duties as a journalist to tell the Nation whether it’s safe or not to take AstraZeneca vaccines but my main worry is the fact that while the King has unleashed the Eswatini Revenue Authority(SRA) to grab more money from the pockets of the people including businesses that are now struggling, the country is relying on donations to fight the pandemic.
King Mswati must count himself among the most luckiest Kings in the world should the people allow him to sit on the Throne as an absolute Monarch after the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a just a matter of time.
King Mswati