MBABANE: King Mswati allegedly said those who wanted incarcerated pro-democracy Members of Parliament(MPs)Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube released, must first pump a bullet through his head and kill him.
Mswati, an absolute Monarch with Executive, Judicial and Legislative powers is implicated in a politically motivated case through an electronic evidence,he allegedly instructed his police to arrest the pro-democracy MPs merely for demanding democratic reforms.
Jeffery Shabalala, the then Army Commander was investigated by this Swaziland News and subsequently exposed confirming that Mswati allegedly issued the order to arrest the MPs.
Now, royal insiders very close to the King alleged that the King was approached and asked to at least release the MPs and participate in a political dialogue to restore peace and stability in the country, however, the King refused.
“We tried to convince him to release the MPs but he said those who want these MPs released must first pump-in a bullet through his skull. Watsi angamane afe kunekutsi abakhulule,” said the royal insider.
But King’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane when responding to our questions on the subject matter, said the matter was before court and urged lawyers representing the MPs to challenge the alleged involvement of the King and present evidence.
Courts in eSwatini are fully controlled by Mswati, who placed himself above the Constitution.
“The arrest of the two Members of Parliament in question is before a court of law. We believe their lawyers stand a better position to challenge the alleged participation of the King and present proof.It would be therefore not prudent for us to entertain it lest we stray into its merits and attract Contempt of Court at our own expense,”said the King’s Spokesperson.
Simelane said as the King’s Office, they have a duty to be extra careful when responding to questions on issues involving the King adding that misinformation has become a song all over the world.
“We believe the Courts would be happy to hear how the King participated in the arrest of the MPs in question and what exactly he said. We have checked with the police but they have no record of any command to that effect,” he said .
Reached for comments, Sicelo Mngomezulu, the lawyer representing the pro-democracy MPs said they tried to file an urgent bail application after receiving information suggesting that the King was allegedly involved in the politically motivated case.
“You will recall that we tried to challenge the alleged involvement of the King in the matter, after receiving information implicating the then Army Commander Jeffery Shabalala who alleged that the King was involved. We even filed an affidavit of the police officer who was with Jeffery but that was in the bail application. Despite these allegations regarding the alleged involvement of the King, we believe the court must issue a judgement independently and release the MPs,” said the lawyer.
It has been disclosed that apart from interfering in the MPs court case, the King allegedly issued an order to the police to shoot and disperse protesters who were singing outside the High Court in support of the MPs.
King Mswati.