Several foreign AIDS organizations partner with HIV/AIDS groups in Swaziland but rarely wish to engage in a realistic analysis of that country. They avoid the topic of politics as if it were the plague. In hushed tones, Directors often claim "we can't get involved in the political situation because it could affect our funding" or "we don't want to be thrown out of the country". Why will they never demand of the Swazi government what they themselves expect at home - a system which is concerned with the public welfare?
Even an American business newspaper such as the Wall Street Journal points out the inter-connectedness!
'Swazi king sets poor example'
December 27, 2006
http://www.iol.co.za/
Swaziland - where one in three people between ages 15 and 49 are HIV-positive, according to UNAIDS - has the highest HIV prevalence in the world, and King Mswati III is the "elephant in the room when Swazis contemplate their Aids crisis," the Wall Street Journal reports.
To prevent the spread of HIV, the king in 2001 reinstated a custom that mandates that all girls under age 18 should not have sexual relations for five years and that any man who has sex with a virgin under age 18 must pay one cow to the girl's family, according to the Journal.
However, soon after reinstating the rule, the king became engaged to a 17-year-old woman.
In addition, although some HIV/Aids advocates "credit the king" - who has at least 12 wives - for declaring HIV/Aids a national disaster in 1999 and for his frequent discussion of the virus, some Swazis "privately say the 38-year-old monarch's own polygamous lifestyle sets a poor example for a nation dying of Aids," according to the Journal.
"There's a lack of role models," Agnes Mtetwa, HIV/Aids programme officer for the Council of Swaziland Churches, said, adding, "The king is a young man, and he has a whole host of the most beautiful girls in the land. ... Which young man doesn't want to be like the king?"
Researchers, health workers and the king's Aids council have said that traditional practices - including child marriage, polygamy and widow inheritance - are fuelling the spread of HIV and that HIV/Aids is intimately linked to the comparative powerlessness of women in Swazi culture (Phillips, Wall Street Journal, 12/20/2006).
For more information on Swaziland see
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Jan14 Sd2007
Greetings for 2007 - Year of the Boar
The weekend before Christmas the People's United Democratic
Movement of Swaziland held its 6th General Congress which
resulted in a document entitled TARGETED SANCTIONS
AGAINST THE RULING REGIME IN SWAZILAND. This is
the clear vision of people focused on self-determination.
PUDEMO: TARGETED SANCTIONS AGAINST THE RULING REGIME IN SWAZILAND
With a king like mSwindler III of Swaziland, it's not surprising
his children would be schooled in foreign countries where
leaders like Bush (more of a little shrub) and Blair (as in
blaring idiot) rule the roost. The "minny me" Dlamini royalty go
far away for an expensive education and an exclusive education.
And of course the folks at Buckswood School, Hastings, UK
gladly take mSwindlers cash!
http://www.ukstudy.com/Show_Front.php?Page=ViewSchool&SchoolID=126&L=1
Below is the most recent letter from the Commonwealth.
Once again they attempt to defend their own complacency
by speaking of quiet diplomacy. It is simply more
hogwash to begin this Year of the Boar.
For current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS
COMMONWEALTH
SECRETARIAT
22 November 2006
The focus of our approach now is to continue to engage with the Government and civil society groups so as to provide all the support necessary for the implementation of the Constitution. We have gone this far adopting quiet, and discreet diplomacy, far from the glare of publicity. We will maintain that approach and appreciate the support and interest of Commonwealth member nations and their governments.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew E. K. Neuhaus
Director Political Affairs Division
The weekend before Christmas the People's United Democratic
Movement of Swaziland held its 6th General Congress which
resulted in a document entitled TARGETED SANCTIONS
AGAINST THE RULING REGIME IN SWAZILAND. This is
the clear vision of people focused on self-determination.
PUDEMO: TARGETED SANCTIONS AGAINST THE RULING REGIME IN SWAZILAND
With a king like mSwindler III of Swaziland, it's not surprising
his children would be schooled in foreign countries where
leaders like Bush (more of a little shrub) and Blair (as in
blaring idiot) rule the roost. The "minny me" Dlamini royalty go
far away for an expensive education and an exclusive education.
And of course the folks at Buckswood School, Hastings, UK
gladly take mSwindlers cash!
http://www.ukstudy.com/Show_Front.php?Page=ViewSchool&SchoolID=126&L=1
Below is the most recent letter from the Commonwealth.
Once again they attempt to defend their own complacency
by speaking of quiet diplomacy. It is simply more
hogwash to begin this Year of the Boar.
For current events in Swaziland see LATEST NEWS
COMMONWEALTH
SECRETARIAT
22 November 2006
Dear Mr MacIntyre
Thank you for your letter dated 30 October 2006 wherein you raise concerns on the current situation in Swaziland.
The Commonwealth’s engagement with Swaziland as a member state has been focused on ensuring their compliance with the 1991 Harare Principles. Until the implementation of the Constitution in February this year, this has been at the level of a good offices engagement. The specific objective of the Commonwealth’s engagement from the outset was to facilitate the movement from an absolute monarchy to a democratic constitutional model. Such a model was to include a bill of rights; establishment of an elected Parliament; measures to further entrench the independence of the judiciary and generally the opening up of political space.
The formal adoption of the new Constitution in February this year with these provisions marked the beginning of the final phase of that process. It would thus be inaccurate to say that the Swaziland people live in “horrendous conditions” and the present system prevents people selecting their own representatives.
The Constitution of Swaziland allows for the freedom of association and assembly. His Majesty King Mswati III has confirmed the abrogation of the 1973 decree, which had originally banned political parties.
The focus of our approach now is to continue to engage with the Government and civil society groups so as to provide all the support necessary for the implementation of the Constitution. We have gone this far adopting quiet, and discreet diplomacy, far from the glare of publicity. We will maintain that approach and appreciate the support and interest of Commonwealth member nations and their governments.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew E. K. Neuhaus
Director Political Affairs Division
Hon Roly MacIntyre
Minister of Supply and Services
P. O. Box 6000
Fredericton
New Brunswick
Canada E3B 5H1
c.c. H. E. Mr Jim Wright
High Commissioner
Canadian High Commission
Macdonald House
1Grovenor Square
London W1K 4AB
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