By Bheki Makhubu.

One of the reasons why some of us have found ourselves at loggerheads with the leadership of this country is the derogation of the rules of public engagement and the rule of law in particular.

For instance, the reason why corruption has gone through the roof in this country is because the law is no longer followed in dealing with matters affecting the public.

What you now see are people who, because they have been allowed to hold the levers of power, behaving in a manner that suggests they believe the rules and the law do not apply to them. Now we see the same kind of behaviour with the Swaziland Editors Forum which has issued a statement drafted by two people without any participation by the rest of the executive committee of the Forum or the broader membership of the organisation. It is this kind of behaviour where people, once given the responsibility to run public affairs, now consider themselves absolute authorities who can do as they please because they believe they are running their small fiefdoms.

This statement has no standing in law or anywhere simply because the meeting that took the resolution to draft and publish it did not form a quorum. This kind of behaviour is in line with this new kind of leadership tendency in this country. It has to stop.

We can’t live in a country littered with despots everywhere, drunk with power when emaSwati have entrusted them with public affairs.

This statement has no standing in law. There is no place for despotism in eSwatini.