MBABANE:Nurses here in the Kingdom of eSwatini marched to the Ministry of Health Offices on Tuesday to deliver a petition in demand for working equipment including drugs as the health crisis worsens, resulting to frustrated patients behaving violently against health workers in demand for services.
The petition delivery comes after patients went on a rampage this week, assaulting some nurses who consistently told them to buy medication in a country where about 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.
But the crisis has resulted to the death of hundreds of emaSwati and, more deaths are expected as King Mswati’s Government prioritizes the extravagance of the royal family amid socio-economic challenges.
The country is ruled by Mswati as an absolute Monarchy with no effective transparency and accountability institutions, public funds are used to sustain the King’s extravagant lifestyle and recently, the Monarch spent millions of taxpayer’s money celebrating his birthday.
Corruption under a culture of impunity is rife in eSwatini and the Anti Corruption Commission(ACC) is struggling to arrest high profile people as corruption revolves around the King and members of the royal family.
Kareem Ashraff, a powerful and politically connected businessman of Indonesian origin and, an alleged close friend to the King, was implicated in various investigation reports that were subsequently adopted by Parliament.
Ashraff stands accused of looting billions of public funds within the Ministry of Health, worsening the health crisis but, due to his power of influence in the governing structures, the ACC was unleashed to investigate the Auditor General(AG) Timothy Matsebula and forensic companies who investigated him.
Eswatini health crisis worsening amid shortage of drugs in public hospitals, nurses march to deliver a petition as King spent millions celebrating birthday with frustrated patients behaving violently demand services(pic: supplied).