By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: The Embassy of the United States of America(USA) has urged King Mswati to listen to the concerns of all stakeholders and facilitate genuine dialogue in the midst of the political unrest.

In a public statement released on Thursday, the Embassy emphasised the importance of facilitating a genuine dialogue to open space for reforms and to resolve the situation peacefully and productively.

"We urge HM King Mswati III, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, and SADC to listen to the concerns of all stakeholders and to facilitate genuine dialogue to open the space for reform and to resolve the situation peacefully and productively.We are disappointed that the SADC Troika Organ departed after only one day. We are grateful to hear of SADC’s plan for a quick return, and we urge SADC to commit to their role as facilitators of broad, inclusive talks that will lead to concrete and productive reforms.The U.S. Embassy is engaging contacts at all levels of government and civil society, and we will continue to do so. The calls for reform are legitimate and genuine.We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the inappropriate use of force, and we urge all sides to exercise restraint and to respect human rights.The U.S. Embassy is distressed by the violence, fatalities, human rights violations, and intimidation of journalists that we are witnessing in Eswatini. We call for all incidents to be fully and transparently investigated. All perpetrators, regardless of affiliation, must be held accountable according to rule of law" read the statement in part.

On other note, Thulisile Dladla, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation wrote a letter on Wednesday to Dr Lemogang Kwape informing him that due to the COVID-19  third wave, it might be impossible for the Troika team to continue with the consultations as part of the facilitating the political dialogue.

"As a measure of precaution, the Kingdom of Eswatini advises that the third wave of the COVID-19 is upon us and infections numbers are growing exponentially. This, on its own, presents a conundrum for Eswatini, in the sense that events of a bigger magnitude are strongly discouraged in order to conform to COVID-19 Regulations, which may be adjusted in the next few days to reflect the reality of the third wave. in essence we will hamper the envisaged national consultations, which may be one of the outcomes of the Organs Troika recommendations as gleaned from the statement of the Chairperson" the Foreign Affairs Minister said the statement.