By Zweli Martin Dlamini

It seems former Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku long-concluded that, King Mswati is owing him a political favour, unlike others, the ex-DPM is confident that he is among the list of King’s appointees and as a result, he is lobbying for his wife Dimpho to be elected into Senate.

The question is; why is Masuku who is known to be politically ambitious not lobbying the MPs to elect him to Senate instead of the wife?

The siSwati adage suggesting that, “Inkhosi ayetayelwa, ayinamngani” long lost its meaning, Mswati is now predictable and there are certain individuals who know that they will make it into the list of King’s appointees.

But what is more concerning is the fact that, Masuku is now going around lobbying the new Members of Parliament(MPs) to elect his wife, in the process, he is taking advantage of some of the MPs who are new in politics by claiming that, he will assist, convince the King to appoint them into Cabinet if they elect his wife into Senate.

The new MPs have a reason to believe him because he was closer to the King in his capacity as the Deputy Prime Minister(DPM) and was once an Acting Head of Government.

Themba Masuku is one of the most corrupt politicians in this country, what he is doing these days when lobbying for his wife to make it to Senate, does not only amount to the abuse of King Mswati’s name but, it’s purely abuse of power for dishonest gain.

Isaac Magagula, the then Police National Commissioner did the same when lobbying MPs to elect his wife Leckina Magagula into Senate, he allegedly promised to employ their relatives as police officers and a few days later, Mswati relieved him of his duties and re-deploy him to the House of Senate.

As a result, Magagula was unable to fulfill the promise he made to some of the MPs but, because this was a corrupt political deal, the MPs were unable to hold him accountable.

In conclusion, it is therefore important to warn the new MPs to vote for women and men of integrity instead of being deceived by Themba Masuku, the former DPM is a highly skilled deceiver.

Masuku does not have powers to influence King Mswati this time, he is just using his previous influence record to deceive the new MPs.