In 1788, physicians examining George III of the United Kingdom came to a grave conclusion: their sovereign was incurably insane. “Rex Noster Insanit” – our king is mad – was the prognosis that was passed down through history. We all know how historians remember George’s reign: barely. Lesser known than even him is perhaps his modern equivalent, Mswati III, the absolute ruler of the tiny African kingdom of Swaziland.
Surrounded on three of four sides by South Africa, Swaziland itself could not be more different from its prosperous neighbor. The AIDS pandemic sweeping Africa is at its most extreme here, afflicting more than a quarter of the population between ages 15 and 49. A massive 15% of the country’s entire population consists of orphans, a result of the royal government’s absolute incompetence at handling the HIV crisis. The socioeconomic makeup of the country is extremely iniquitous, with the royal court enjoying a disproportionate share of the national wealth. This makes coping with the disease an insurmountable challenge for the underprivileged Swazis suffering from the disease.
Apart from hording much of the wealth, Mswati also maintains an iron grip on the corridors of power in the state. Political parties have been banned since 1973, and the monarch appoints the Prime Minister and government. In addition to the institutional grievances, Mswati’s personal profligacy has outraged many.
Polygamous, Mswati has taken 14 wives, some of them as young as seventeen or eighteen at the time of their marriage. Negotiating a loan of about $270,000 with South Africa to resolve Swaziland’s interminable budget deficit, Mswati had the cheek to ask for a commission on the deal. In other words, he wanted to get paid to solve his own financial mismanagement.
At a time when Africa is reeling from the most devastating and serious health crisis the world has faced in the last century, it makes no sense for masses of the most vulnerable people to be left to the mercy of such despots. The Organization of African Unity, the British Commonwealth, and South Africa, all of whom the Swaziland regime depends on for sustenance, need to condemn Mswati’s despotic reign. Rather than be treated as a curious African anomaly, Swaziland should be forced to reform its system of governance, or external support to the king’s regime must be halted.
Modern sensibility cannot condone the continued tyranny of this cavalier despot.