No one accused the Government of eSwatini of killing human rights lawyer Thulani Rudolf Maseko,the main suspect here is Makhosetive William Dlamini popularly known as King Mswati.
In a report directed to Diplomats,Foreign Minister Thulie Dladla denied that Government killed Thulani Maseko,the question is;who accused the Government of assassinating him because the sequence of events demonstrate clearly what happened.
Perhaps let me remind Foreign Affairs Minister Thulie Dlamini that lawyer Thulani Maseko was assassinated a few hours after King Mswati threatened those calling for democracy saying his mercenaries would deal with them.
Now,with an alleged intention to omit Mswati’s name,the Foreign Affairs decided to deny the allegations on behalf of Government,the Minister must produce one article where Government was accused of killing lawyer Thulani Rudolf Maseko.
Government is a huge public institution with three arms being the Executive,Judiciary and the Legislature,no one accused these arms of assassinating Thulani Maseko.
The tendency of twisting allegations directed to the King to protect his already tainted reputation and then paint Government as an institution,is one of the most outdated Public Relations(PR)and damage control strategies.
It is absurd that the Foreign Affairs Minister accused independent journalists of twisting facts when in the very same report,he opted to twist information to protect Mswati.
As a journalist who was consistently harassed by the police and those in power for writing critical articles about Mswati,I was once ordered to at least criticize government not the King.
So,I am fully aware of the systematic omission of the King’s name in such sensitive issues with an alleged intention to protect his tainted image.
Mswati addressed his regiments at Engabezweni Palace and threatened political activists before the death of lawyer Thulani Maseko and soon thereafter,his alleged mercenary Arno Piennar told the Times of London that he signed an agreement with the King to deal with what he described terrorists.
The King’s alleged mercenary told the London Times that Thulani was not in the list of those targeted ‘terrorists’.
But in the report, Foreign Affairs Minister denied that Government hired mercenaries,instead,she said the State engaged security experts to counter terrorism.
Again,after Mswati’s thretening statement and the subsequent clear confirmation by his ‘Chief Mercenary’ Arno Piennar that he signed an agreement with the King,Thulie Dladla opted to omit Mswati’s name and replaced it with “Government”.
The first story regarding the presence of mercenaries in the country,killing Swazis appeared in this Swaziland News and it was clearly stated that they were allegedly hired by Mswati.
Government is not a single human being,so this brutal,cruel and oppressive regime that by twisting the accusations as if it is the Government that stands accused of killing Thulani Maseko,then no one will personally be held accountable for the killing in the court of public opinion.
Lawyer Thulani Maseko was allegedly killed by King Mswati,the mercenaries and the police were allegedly acting on his command.
In light of the aforementioned,it is therefore important to highlight that the investigation into the killing of human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko must be conducted by an independent international organization.
It’s very unfortunate that even before we know the truth,Government is releasing questionable reports trying to divert our focus regarding this matter.
But the truth will come-out and if Mswati claims innocence,an international investigation into the killing must be conducted without any reluctance from the State.
As mentioned,the lawyer was not killed by Government as an institution but the main suspect is Mswati.
But then,we know that the King as an absolute Monarch,is the ‘Government’ and this article is not suggesting that the State or Government institutions like the police were not manipulated to implement the alleged King’s order and assassinate the lawyer.
Foreign Affairs Minister Thulie Dladla.