MBABANE: Johannes Manikela, the Chairman of the Federation of Eswatini Business Community(FESBC)in the Hhohho region has come out to clarify that businesspeople never killed anyone during the June 2021 political unrest.
This comes after Mswati’s Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini told the British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) that some protesting civilians who allegedly looted shops and burnt properties were killed by businesspeople.
“It’s not true that businesspeople killed the civilians, the burning of properties and looting happened at night while we were at home. So there was no way we can shoot people, in fact some businesspeople received calls from the police that their properties were burnt and looted”, said the FESBC Chairman.
On another note Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini told the BBC that while it was true that police killed protesters, some were killed by businesspeople.
“People were protecting their properties and in that process they were shooting back and of course the police also, were shooting. So I am not saying the police didn’t kill anyone but I am saying not everybody who died was killed by the police”, he said.
King Mswati stands accused of unleashing the army and the police to shoot and kill dozens of protesting civilians merely for demanding demanding reforms.
The Human Rights Commission recently released a preliminary report suggesting that forty-six(46) people died during the political unrest, but political parties and the civil society said they have evidence substantiating that over one hundred(100) people were killed and over seventy(70) have been identified.
FESBC Chairman Johannes Manikela