Free Swaziland Movement — Democracy & Justice for Eswatini

For those who winked, the king of Eswatini opened the most expensive convention Centre last week. In a very extravagant ceremony, the king and his cronies capped off a three-day celebration with a tour of the country’s International Convention Centre.

Those who expressed grave concern about misplaced priorities were quickly branded as “jealous” and enemies of progress. It is, therefore, apt that the connection between these expensive buildings and state failure is exposed.

Why the Government Does not Publish Financial Reports

Eswatini’s Public Finance Act (2017) compels the government to publish – on the government website – all ministerial reports within a week after they have been tabled in parliament. This has only been done once in the 2024/2025 year.

Why would a government deliberately breach its own laws? This is because these reports are extremely revealing, both for what they say and what they omit.

It is when one reads these reports that the true extent of government failure is exposed.

The Underfunded Ministry

While the government had appropriated (approved budget) E2.9 billion for that year, the financials recorded that only E2.1 billion was released.

This means that a total of E800 million that had been approved by the parliament did not buy the medicines and medical equipment that it was supposed to.

On the other hand, the E1.28 billion appropriated for the glittering Five Star Hotel and Convention Centre was released in full.

How does one explain to the nation that their king priorities vanity projects over their health? The lack of medicine and other supplies doesn’t just lead to poor service delivery, it also leads to brain drain.

Public Health personnel – doctors and nurses – do not like working in substandard facilities, it destroys their morale.

Why Dictatorships Have no Free Media

This direct connection between the decay of public health institutions and vanity projects has been kept from the public.

The impressionable masses have been fed the lie that “drug shortages” in hospitals were caused by an Asian businessman and his syndicate of civil servants. How?

Corruption is a culture in Eswatini. The release of appropriated funds is actually how these corrupt vultures feed off the system.

Yet E800 million was not released to the health ministry in 2024/2025; instead, it went to build a hotel that Swazis cannot even enter to take pictures in.

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ROYAL PEGEANTRY AND STATE FAILURE

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