By Bongiwe Dlamini

MIDRAND:Prime Minister(PM) Russell Mmiso Dlamini told the Pan African Parliament(PaP)that the ruling Tinkhundla undemocratic system of governance is the best.

Eswatini is ruled by King Mswati as an absolute Monarch, political parties are banned from participating in elections while political activists,human rights defenders and independent journalists are arrested,tortured or killed for demanding democracy.

In June 2021,King Mswati unleashed soldiers and the police including foreign mercenaries to shoot and kill dozens of innocent civilians merely for, demanding democracy.

Addressing Members of Parliament(MPs) from African countries during the Pan African Parliament Session at Midrand-South Africa on Monday, the PM said, the Tinkhundla system was established to be in line with traditional values.

"According to the Tinkhundla system,where Tinkhundla refers to counties,candidates are elected individually and on individual merit at the county level.In Parliament,at the national level,there is no partisanship.The elected representatives work collectively for the Nation under the leadership of the Head of State,who provides stability and continuity”, said the Prime Minister.

But Velaphi Mamba,a human rights defender told this Swaziland News that, the PM was misleading the Pan African Parliament(PaP), he said democracy cannot be divorced from Pan-Africanism.

“What need to be understood in the context of the Tinkhundla system is that, once the MPs arrive in Parliament,they don’t have powers to form a government or play an oversight role over the Executive.The MPs don’t have powers even to amend the law and as you saw in other newspapers that MP Make LaZwide was harassed by the police within the premises of her home, they even disregarded her Honorable status and harassed her. So that’s how Tinkhundla operates, Tinkhundla is a dictatorship regime controlled by King Mswati’s royal family”, said the human rights defender.