Swazi Observer

FULL STORY

ATTACKS OF CONVENIENCE

By Mbongeni Mbingo | 2022-09-26

There was something strange about the events of the past week, a week in which His Majesty the King gave arguably one of his best speeches at the United Nations General Assembly.

His Majesty led the calls for some of the big issues that the world is grappling with these days, including the implementation of the Ezulwini Accord, an agreement by African leaders for the United Nations to recognise the continent with a seat in the Security Council.

So compelling was this call that the new President of the United Nations, Casaba Korosi reportedly gave the first indication that it was time to honour this agreement, while several other leaders are reported to have also weighed in on this call in the wake of the Russia invasion of Ukraine.

The King’s address at the UN is obviously an important day in our calendar as a country, but listening to His Majesty this time around, he touched on the key issues that the world now recognises as important. In fact, the major impact of the King’s address this yearwas probably added in how he successfully drove home the point of how all the countries are faced with similar challenges – from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the climate change issues and then the rising conflict.

There has always been the sense that the issues African leaders raised at the UN General Assembly are isolated challenges that are at best described as African challenges. As such, no matter how important the issues were to the Member States, the fact that they were raised by African leaders meant they did not carry that needed weight for the UN to act quicker on them.

One of these issues of course relates to the question of the Security Council seat for Africa, which still does not have a seat despite there being this Ezulwini Consensus dating back to 2005. Imagine Europe challenging the UN for a similar issue and tell me if it would take 20 years for it to be resolved or implemented.

On the other hand, His Majesty has been religiously consistently raising the issue of the recognition of Taiwan by the United Nations. This is a very important call by the country and genuinely, it is justified – not just because we as a country are Taiwan’s allies or that we have made it our business to campaign for them.

But, because it makes logic and is unfair on the nation of 23 million people that they don’t have a voice in the UN. For some reason, the fact that this remains a hanging issue is a damning indictment of the effectiveness or otherwise of the United Nations, and perhaps the reason why Russia can defy the organisation in its decision to invade Ukraine.

How does this issue remain unresolved after so many years? But, then again, the flipside of this is that if the United States were to join this campaign, how quickly would it be ratified? If the United Kingdom were to join in the conversation, how long would it take for the Republic of China (Taiwan) to be invited to the General Assembly? What would it take, really?

But, Eswatini has been speaking about this for decades, and it still remains unresolved, let alone being explored – never mind the position of the People’s Republic of China. The point one is trying to demonstrate is that Africa’s voice in the UN needs to carry as much weight as all the other continents, because the General Assembly is of equal members.

Anyway, for all its worth, I sympathise with the people of Taiwan, for being left out of the United Nations purely because of what Big Brother says, and not on the merits of their sovereignty – and despite that the United Nations itself stands opposed to such bullying in this day and age. The lack of political will to have this issue resolved is perhaps the biggest scandal of all time, and what the UN should be desperate to ensure does not happen.

His Majesty reminded the UN of how Taiwan – alone – was excluded from any interventions during the period when the entire world was ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. This kind of discrimination in this day and age is unforgivable, and inhumane.

However, it is in the context of understanding the effect and glory of the King’s address in New York that one could not fathom how the country was suddenly plunged into a negative narrative in the wake of two events that have now taken centre-stage. The unfortunate bombing of the home of the proscribed entity PUDEMO’s president Mlungisi Makhanya and the reported beating of inmates at the correctional facility are not the type of incidents this country needs – now, or ever.

The PUDEMO president’s homestead was bombed by unknown people in the morning on Tuesday, in what some have now claimed was a planned attack by the State – which frankly is nonsensical.

The second incident is baffling to say the least. Perhaps, it is also infuriating, given that warders are said to have senselessly decided to beat up inmates, including the two most high profile of these, being the Members of Parliament Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube.

It is mindboggling who in their right senses would touch these two – and for what good reason. It is scandalous that this incident actually happened, and for which I am certain the commissioner general not only needs to read the riot act, but needs to take more serious action against anyone involved here. Heads truly have to roll, because this incident has dragged the country’s name negatively as it is now being accused of deliberately launching the attack on the MPs.

The timing of these incidents leaves a lot to be desired, of course. It is this that weighed on my mind - how much of a coincidence it was that Eswatini was attracting negative criticism just at the wrong time. How easily this shifted the attention from the good and positive to once more, violence and the question of democracy.

The fact that the King is being accused to have issued orders for such incidents not only is ludicrous but perhaps sends another message of its own. It is just such a coincidence that the two incidents would play themselves out during such a period when the Head of State would want to enjoy the world’s attention for his remarkable address and for the image of the country to be once more a reflection of good.

It is without doubt that both incidents are regrettable and should be dealt with in the most urgent and sensitive manner for they have the potential to derail what plans there may be to resolve the issues that have over the past year been on the agenda – that is, retaining our peace and finding each other without the use of violence. In any case, were the government to decide to engage in such as dangerous tactic, I am not certain they would want to do it when the King is in such mode – away in the international community where he obviously gets to field such questions.

Perhaps therefore, the incidents need to be looked at more closely than at a glance and the narrative that they are an orchestration of the State being questioned strongly for it will not bring the answers needed as to the culprits behind these two.

That notwithstanding, we must demand of the state to get to the bottom of these two incidents in order for the nation to trust that it recognises the need to disprove some of the things that are used to build on the narrative about this country.

I thought it was curious that the warders could behave in such a scandalous manner and have asked myself how it was possible that they thought they would get away with this. I recalled the story of the two warders who recently went AWOL and how they seemed to be part of a bigger plot to defect in pursuit of whatever agenda.

The incident came flooding back when I heard of the beating of the inmates and asked myself if this could not have been part of that agenda and plot, in order to deflect attention. The notion that anyone would have the nerve to assault a high profile inmate, knowing the consequences it bears on this country, can’t be easily be explained easily as it was a case of madness by the warders.

There has to be a bigger motivation, and there has to be a really good explanation.

In my head, they could have beaten up all other inmates but those two. That they did, and knowingly, is the part that makes me think there is more to this than meets the eye.

It also tells me that LaMakhosini Dlamini is in serious danger if this is what her warders will get up to as a favourite pastime. In fact, she is in danger if she is surrounded by warders who occasionally get a rush of blood to the head – because who knows what’s next.

But, we have not forgotten the story of the two cellphones at the Maximum Prison. Suddenly, if we consider all of these, then we can form a different but very interesting picture.

That picture may well be that there are a lot of warders we should give serious look. Perhaps everything makes sense from the perspective of things being so very convenient.

share story