By Mduduzi Hlophe

MBABANE: Lucky Lukhele,the Spokesperson for the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) says theemerging digital mediahas forced government to hire a Public Relations(PR)company to protectit\'s image.
Speaking to this Swaziland News, the political activist said government can no longer control the flow information like it used to do in the past.
\"Everyone has embraced social media and online independent publications, people no longer depend on the state media houses that are heavily censored. Now information spreads easily across social media platforms and government does not have control over it, this has exposed human rights violations that have been happening for may years in the country. The oppressive regime has now hired a PR company to save the country\'s image that has been already tarnished by the human rights violations reports\", said the SSN Spokesperson.
The Eswatini government is reported to have hired Vuma Reputation management, a South African Public Relations firm in a bid to position itself as a stable and peaceful investment destination.
The SSN Spokesperson added that with the new information age at our shores, the road to democracy will be much easier.
\"The world now knows about what is exactly happening in Eswatini, this is because of the easy flow of information. However, as political activists, we would like to implore the independent media to also whip us into line should we go astray.We also want to be held accountable for our actions as we continue with our fight for democracy,\" he said.
Veli Mamba the Spokesperson for the Swazi Vigil, an organisation for Swazi exiled political activists based in the United Kingdom (UK) , said they have made progress in painting the true picture of the state of affairs in Eswatini for the international community.
\" With the help of independent media , we are following the reports on human rights violations back home. We then meet here in the UK to discuss such issues.We usually demonstrate infront of the Swazi embassy protesting on these issues without fear of arrest or intimidation. We even petitioned the office of the Prime Minister\'s here when Bheki Makhubo the Nation\'s editor and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko were arrested.The world now knows that there is no peace in Eswatini but there is fear.We are also calling for the country to be slapped with sanctions in order to force government to initiate political reforms,\" said the Swazi Vigil Spokesperson.

Last week, Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, Finance Minister Neal Rijkernberg and Commerce Minister Mancoba Khumalo addressed a press conference for international journalists organized by Vuma Reputation Management.