While Mswati’s Government is busy spreading misinformation, urging police officers and soldiers to fight the people and protect the Monarchy as insurance for their jobs, the pro-democracy movement is silent.
Recently, police officers were told by their superiors in some police stations that once they allowed political parties to take over this country and introduce democracy, all police officers who are currently employed by King Mswati’s Government would be fired by the progressives.
It is not true that police and all soldiers would be fired once this country is ushered into a new democratic dispensation, in fact the coming new Government will have to add more security officers to restore peace and stability while maintaining law and order.
Indeed, no country can fire all police officers and train recruits overnight, policing is a daily operation and a very essential service for the Nation hence the propaganda being spread by senior police officers to capture the minds of junior officers is just cheap politics.
But my main concern here is the fact that while this regime is busy twisting the minds of the security officers to turn them against the people, leaders of political parties are silent.
No one is liberating the minds of these police officers and soldiers so that they could understand democratic principles and and be assured that their lives would be far better under a democratic Government.
While King Mswati buys weapons of war, the pro-democracy movement should be focusing in liberating the minds of the police and soldiers so that the security officers could dump the dictator or turn those weapons against him.
Freedom fighters must remember that the calls for democratic reforms are meant to liberate the oppressor and the oppressed hence the minds of the police must be liberated so that they can understand democracy.
A human being is oppressed and freed in the mind, these officers were told that without the King, there’s no life and it’s the duty of the aspiring politicians within the pro-democracy movement to educate them about democracy.
We must remember that these people were trained not to think but to take orders without questioning, it’s easy for them to believe what their superiors told them yet in the process, they are being oppressed as well.
While other forces are working on the ground, I thought other leaders would provide leadership through a clear democratic framework that would enable all Swazis to understand how democracy will change their lives.
Condemning police brutality is never enough, leaders must try to change the minds of the police, these are people, who for many years, were misled that Mswati is like God such that some can’t imagine life without him.
We are in a society that was taught how to sing praises to King Mswati at primary level, some believe, if they could get a chance and be next to the King, they could sing praises until he notices them and thereafter, their lives would change.
It is the duty of the pro-democracy leaders to capacitate the minds of the police and the people through educational programs, so that the people could know that King Mswati is actually a political cancer that is destroying this country.
Police officers have a football team that won various tournaments but that money was not invested and used to assist all the officers who are sinking in debts, part of it was presented to King Mswati as tetfulo.
At times, we must understand that police officers were blinded, they are suffering already but they have opted to protect a dictator because they were told their lives would be far worse under a new democratic Government.
The truth is, the police will live a better life under the coming new Government but no one is preaching that to them, instead some leaders of political parties are busy talking things that doesn’t make sense.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Mswati’s Government could start educating the people about Tinkhundla elections while political leaders are relaxed, no one seems to understand that the people are hungry for leadership with a clear democratic framework that stipulates how the coming democratic Government will change their lives.
Police during a protest.