By Zweli Martin Dlamini

Newly appointed Prime Minister(PM) Russell Mmiso Dlamini must behave like the late Dr Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini and rule with an iron fist if he wants to see what could have happened to Barnabas if he was still alive.

The late PM who was the most feared, was lucky to die before the emergence of the independent media.

The media was, during Barnabas term, captured and warned against criticizing government,the PM,the King and members of the royal family.

As a result, local newspapers were forced to report about road accidents and other useless issues.

A month before PM Barnabas Dlamini died, this publication was already circulating and I was lucky to speak to him even though he was uttering nonsense. 

Barnabas who was already sick, was asked by this publication to clarify why he looted monies for the Gege-Scunusa road and this was his response;

“You are still young with a bright future, what you have started, exposing the King and attacking government won’t end well.You are not like me, I might die anytime but you still have a chance to live and enjoy your future. Stop destroying yourself by attacking the King and the royal family”.

After realizing that Barnabas was not responding to questions about the looting of public funds, I interjected and asked him to respond instead of lecturing me about the future and he said;

“Siyabonga-ke Mlangeni kuvuselana”, and subsequently terminated the conversation.

Part of the discussions between Barnabas and this editor was reported in an article titled “I might die anytime, says Prime Minister”.

Now, newly appointed PM Russell Mmiso Dlamini has taken over as Head of Government at the time when the independent online media is vibrant and interconnected to the international media.

The articles we publish here are analyzed by the world and sometimes the editor is hosted by international TV and radio stations to analyse the eSwatini politics based on the articles published.

This means PM Russell Dlamini must be ready to account, there would be no room for corruption,

 nepotism and maladministration.

The new PM must not make a mistake of attempting to silence or fight the media, what we need here is accountability not to fight journalists, that political project has dismally failed.

But the new PM must know that we are not here to fight him but to report news, if there are positive stories, we will definitely publish those stories if they meet our editorial standards.

Welcome to the world of transparency and accountability Mr Prime Minister but, I wish Barnabas was still alive, we would have given him a run for his money.