MBABANE: King Mswati’s Government is plotting to deploy soldiers with weapons of war to shoot and kill innocent citizens who might protest against the upcoming undemocratic Tinkhundla elections at Siphofaneni Constituency.
This is contained in a highly sensitive electronic evidence obtained by the Investigation Unit of this Swaziland News that further reveals how officers from the three armed forces are deployed in strategic places in the midst of the political unrest.
The elections at Siphofaneni come after the removal of influential Member of Parliament(MP) Mduduzi ‘Magawugawu’ Simelane who is critical of King Mswati, the MP is wanted by the police on politically motivated criminal charges and has been removed on the grounds that he missed Parliament sittings.
According to the State's critical information in our possession, the elections are expected to be held in January 2022 and preparations are at an advanced stage.
Now, a high level investigation by this publication uncovered that as the Elections and Boundaries Commission(EBC) prepares for elections at Siphofaneni, a military strategy to hold the undemocratic elections through the barrel of a gun has been developed.
“They won’t be able to fight us. A truck full of soldiers will arrive at 4am and we will arrive at 6am. Officers from the OSSU Bomb Unit will also be deployed there”, said one of the senior officers in the electronic evidence who is preparing for the by-elections.
Other contents of the evidence cannot be revealed for now as doing so might jeopardize the ongoing investigation by this publication into the shooting and killing of civilians, the electronic evidence will be released to the public in due course.
Lieutenant Tengetile Khumalo, the army Spokesperson had not responded to our questions at the time of compiling this report.
Reached for comments, Mduduzi ‘Magawugawu’ Simelane who was persecuted and subsequently removed as an MP by Mswati said this government used the rape approach in everything it did.
“It does not believe in solving conflicts of thoughts in open discussions but uses military force in everything hence one cannot be surprised by such barbaric acts that are being planned. They know that they have failed and they have lost legitimacy and support from the citizens as they believe in killing and using maximum force on peaceful people. I know that the people of Siphofaneni will be ahead of the government in thinking as our government is predictable”, said the now President of the Swaziland Liberation Movement(SWALIMO).
Eswatini is in the midst of a political crisis after the King allegedly unleashed soldiers and the police to shoot and kill dozens of civilians merely for demanding democratic reforms.
The Human Rights Commission released a preliminary report suggesting that forty-six people have been killed since the political unrest erupted in June 2021.
But as the political temperatures continue to rise in this tiny Kingdom, political parties and the civil society alleged that they have evidence substantiating that over one hundred(100) people were killed with over seventy(70) already identified.
Emmanuel Ndlangamandla, the Executive Director of the Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) said the issue of the by-elections at Siphofaneni has already attracted controversy as the people were displeased about the removal of their MP.
“The people on the ground are very much displeased that they have elected a Member of Parliament but he has lost his seat under very questionable circumstances. To this end, the elections that are coming will definitely not meet the international standards including SADC standards”, said the CANGO Director.
Efforts to seek a comment from Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
Eswatini is in the midst of a political crisis after King Mswati allegedly unleashed soldiers and the army to shoot and kill dozens of civilians merely for demanding democratic reforms.
The King further ordered the arrest of three(3) pro-democracy MPs Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza, Mthandeni Dube and Mduduzi ‘Magawugawu’ Simelane who are critical of his regime, two of the MPs are behind bars on terrorism charges while Magawugawu fled the country and was subsequently removed as a Legislator.
King Mswati(sourced via Times)