Thursday, October 15 2009

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Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini is Prime Minister of Swaziland...

The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting begins in Port-of-Spain on November 27 and continues for three days.

Fifty-one heads or their representatives will assemble at The Hyatt for the talks.

Two countries have been suspended — the Fiji Islands which was suspended from membership on September 21, 2009 and Nauru, which is in arrears.

We continue today with a daily feature on the Commonwealth and will feature the Heads of these States who are expected in Port-of-Spain in November.



Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, 67, is Prime Minister of Swaziland. Sugar cane is the main export earner for the country. He was Prime Minister from 1996 to 2003 and has held the position again since October 2008.

Dlamini was Minister of Finance from 1984 to 1993. He was also an executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

From 1996 to 2003, he was Prime Minister, and in 2003 he became a member of King Mswati III’s advisory council.

Dlamini was a candidate, backed by the Swazi government, for the position of Chairperson of the African Union Commission in early 2008. The government withdrew his candidacy out of solidarity with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) so that SADC could present a single candidate.

Following the September 2008 parliamentary election, Dlamini was reappointed as Prime Minister by Mswati III on October 16, 2008. Jan Sithole, the Secretary-General of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, was critical of the appointment, saying that Dlamini worked to “suppress political organisations and advance the strong rule of the monarchy” during his earlier period as Prime Minister; he also accused Dlamini of “strong-hand tactics and lack of respect for the rule of law”. Opposition leader Mario Masuku, the President of the People’s United Democratic Movement, said that Dlamini “was not appointed on merit but on his level of allegiance to the king”. Dlamini was sworn in by Chief Justice Richard Banda on October 23 2008. He took the oath of office both in English and in SiSwati.

The prevalence of HIV in Swaziland’s adult population is 39 percent, the highest in the world.

On July 26, 2005, King Mswati III ratified Swaziland’s constitution. This is Swaziland’s first constitution in over 30 years. It went into effect February 8, 2006.

Branches: Executive —monarch (head of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet (appointed by the king at the recommendation of the prime minister). Legislative —Parliament consisting of the House of Assembly (65 members: 55 elected, 10 appointed by the king) and Senate (30 members: 10 appointed by the House of Assembly, 20 appointed by the king). Judicial—a dual court system of traditional courts under chiefs and a Roman-Dutch system comprising magistrates courts, High Court, Supreme Court (formerly Court of Appeals).

The majority of the population is ethnic Swazi, mixed with a small number of Zulus and non-Africans. Traditionally Swazis have been subsistence farmers and herders, but some now work in the growing urban formal economy and in government. Some Swazis work in the mines in South Africa. Christianity in Swaziland is sometimes mixed with traditional beliefs and practices. Most Swazis ascribe a special spiritual role to the monarch.

The country’s official languages are SiSwati (a language related to Zulu) and English. Government and commercial business is conducted mainly in English.

In the early years of colonial rule, the British had expected that Swaziland would eventually be incorporated into South Africa. After World War II, however, South Africa’s intensification of racial discrimination induced the United Kingdom to prepare Swaziland for independence.

Political activity intensified in the early 1960s. Several political parties were formed and jostled for independence and economic development. The largely urban parties had few ties to the rural areas, where the majority of Swazis lived. The traditional Swazi leaders, including King Sobhuza II and his Inner Council, formed the Imbokodvo National Movement (INM), a political group that capitalised on its close identification with the Swazi way of life. Responding to pressure for political change, the colonial government scheduled an election in mid-1964 for the first legislative council in which the Swazis would participate.

In 1966, the UK Government agreed to discuss a new constitution. A constitutional committee agreed on a constitutional monarchy for Swaziland, with self-government to follow parliamentary elections in 1967. Swaziland became independent on September 6, 1968. Swaziland’s post-independence elections were held in May 1972. On July 26, 2005 King Mswati III ratified Swaziland’s constitution. It went into effect February 8, 2006. This is Swaziland’s first constitution in over 30 years.

Swaziland ranks as a lower middle income country, but it’s estimated that 69 percent of the population lives in poverty.

Swaziland enjoys well-developed road links with South Africa. It also has railroads running east to west and north to south.

The older east-west link, called the Goba line, makes it possible to export bulk goods from Swaziland through the Port of Maputo in Mozambique. Most of Swaziland’s imports were shipped through this port. Conflict in Mozambique in the 1980s diverted many Swazi exports to ports in South Africa.

Swaziland mainly uses the port today for exports of its main income earner sugar cane, citrus, and forest products, with future usage of the port expected to increase.