MBABANE: Marwick Khumalo, the Lobamba Lomdzala Member of Parliament(MP) has arrived at the United States(US) for a political dialogue oriented International Visitors Leadership Program(IVLP).
Khumalo had to cancel his trip last week after being threatened and subsequently blocked by King Mswati, the King allegedly sent Clerk to Parliament Benedict Xaba to block Khumalo from traveling to the US.
This comes after the MP expressed his political views inside Parliament calling for political solutions to resolve the ongoing political crisis.
In a statement sent to this Swaziland News on Tuesday, the MP confirmed being in the United States, he said he decided to travel after Government stated that there was no royal order stopping him.
“After giving due consideration to the Government’s statement suggesting that I was hallucinating that there was a royal command against a trip of respectable fellow citizens fully sponsored by the US Embassy, and added to that, it stated that I was prevented from travelling because of pending court cases; I have, therefore, resolved to use my valid air ticket and restarted the journey to the US and I arrived safely this morning to a gracious reception,” he said.
After this publication exposed how King Mswati stopped Khumalo from travelling to the US, Government released a statement disputing any royal order to that effect.
This comes after the matter was interpreted by diplomatic experts as having a potential to create diplomatic tensions between eSwatini and the US.
“The decision by the King to block MP Khumalo from travelling to the US suggests that Mswati no longer trusts that country and this undermines diplomatic relations,”said a political expert.
It has been disclosed that the US Embassy engaged the eSwatini Government expressing serious concerns regarding the matter, this was confirmed by the Spokesperson of the US Embassy eSwatini.
“We’ve been in touch with the Eswatini Government and we refer any questions to them,”said Stephanie Sandoval, the Spokesperson of the US Embassy eSwatini.
MP Khumalo who arrived in the US on Tuesday joined Barnes Dlamini, the Chairperson of the Institute for Democracy and Leadership(IDEAL), Mary DaSilva of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum and other officials including journalists who attended the International Visitors Leadership Program(IVLP).
MP Marwick Khumalo is in the United States.