It seems King Mswati’s Government is fighting for monopoly over violence to maintain a culture of impunity where those in power kill civilians without fear of being held accountable.
A monopoly in context of this article means Government wants to abduct, assault, torture, shoot and kill innocent civilians without any retaliation from victims or their relatives.
Anyone who encourages the under siege citizens to defend themselves, is a terrorist in the eyes of this cruel and oppressive regime.
It is important to state that Mswati and his Government kill civilians in many ways including poverty and or deliberate failure to fulfil social obligations.
The patients who are dying in various hospitals as a result of the non-availability of drugs are, by extension, victims of Mswati’s oppressive regime, they paid taxes hoping for better services only to be killed systematically.
Siphesihle Mamba, a University of eSwatini(UNESWA)Bachelor of Science(BSc) student committed suicide this week after complaining of a stress related illness.
Mswati has been brutalizing students merely for demanding allowances as per their right to education, as a result, his government is responsible for death of the UNESWA student.
Colani Maseko, the President of the Swaziland National Union of Students(SNUS) was abducted and tortured by King Mswati’s soldiers next to Engabezweni Royal Residence, Government never took any action to ensure that the soldiers were held to account through the criminal justice system.
After the torture, Maseko might develop other sickness caused by internal bleeding, we will hold Mswati’s government accountable for this torture.
It is the responsibility of a Government to protect the lives of the citizens but Mswati’s regime is only concerned about the lives of security officers because those in power rely on them to brutalize and oppress the Swazis.
It’s very strange to note that after the killing of over one hundred(100) citizens during the political unrest, we are not witnessing any arrests of security officers for murder, instead some Swazis are appearing in court for alleged looting and damage to property.
Looting and damage to property is a criminal offence, law enforcement agencies were supposed to arrest the offenders and bring them to justice.
In this regard, it cannot be a justification in terms of the law for this Government to consistently brand the Swazis who were killed as looters, those citizens were not armed, it wouldn’t have been a struggle to arrest them.
This Government fears anything that might capacitate the citizens not to forget what this cruel regime did to them during the political unrest, the expectation was that as time goes on, Swazis would forget and move on with their lives.
But how can we forget the death of our loved ones?.
We need justice and closure on this, Mswati’s Government does not have a monopoly over violence.
Indeed, once you plant a seed of violence among the citizens, it is likely to germinate, eSwatini will never be the same after the killing of civilians.
King Mswati was given a chance by the people to address the Nation and control the situation but instead, he opted to call protesting citizens dagga smokers.
A genuine political dialogue, not Sibaya, must be a product of a legal framework that seeks restore peace and stability and usher this country into a democratic dispensation.
Once we collectively achieve democracy as a country, every responsible citizens will have an obligation to promote peace,stability, economic development and a better life for all.
Violence must be condemned but that doesn’t mean we must encourage citizens to keep quiet while being killed by an illegitimate Government, they must defend their right to life.
King Mswati.