Youth demand democratic reform

Swaziland may be entering a new and violent political phase with the proclamation at the weekend of a manifesto by the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), promising an armed response to alleged political repression by King Mswati's government. "We urge our members to take up arms against government," a SWAYOCO pamphlet was quoted as saying by the Times of Swaziland on Sunday. Sandile Phakathi, information secretary for SWAYOCO, warned in a statement: "government does not possess a monopoly on violence. We will fight fire with fire". On Friday a dormitory housing policemen and their families was fire-bombed and extensively damaged in the capital Mbabane. There were no reports of injuries. "A police barracks was fire-bombed at the weekend, and last week three policemen were beaten by men who were later identified as members of a political group," Vusie Maseko, public relations officer for the Royal Swaziland Police Force, told IRIN. The army is on heightened alert, and police set up urban patrols and roadblocks on all major highways after the release of SWAYOCO's manifesto calling for violent resistance to what the group says is the non-democratic government of King Mswati. A heavy police presence was evident in urban centres over the weekend, signalling a return to the type of response following previous similar incidents in the kingdom. In 2000, a fire-bombing destroyed a community centre that was part of the royal government's Tinkhundla system which divides the country into 55 constituencies. One fatality, a security guard, resulted from the bombing of the Tinkhundla headquarters in downtown Mbabane in 1999. The colonial-era building was partially destroyed. One month earlier, an explosion damaged a disused railway bridge alongside a highway bridge where King Mswati's motorcade had travelled an hour before. The Parliament building was heavily damaged from a fire-bombing in 1995. No organisation claimed credit for any of these attacks. The weekend attack on the police barracks has also not been acknowledged by those responsible. "This is a step backward," Howard Dlamini, a Manzini businessman, told IRIN. "We had hoped this type of thing was in the past. I guess the frustration from the slow pace of political reform is too much for some people." SWAYOCO is the youth wing of the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), which political observers feel is the largest opposition political group. Neither PUDEMO, its youth wing, nor other political organisations like the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) will release membership figures. "As long as we are banned, and it is illegal to belong to a political party, we must function in secret," former prime minister Obed Dlamini, president of the NNLC, told IRIN. Dlamini would not comment on SWAYOCO's call to arms, but noted the youth group had said it would act only out of self-defence. PUDEMO and its youth wing last week called for an end to "30 years of royal exploitation", marking the anniversary of a palace decree that banned organised political opposition to royal rule. Mswati's father, King Sobhuza, overturned the independence constitution in 1973, outlawing political parties and assuming supreme executive, judicial and legislative authority. A draft constitution presented last month by Mswati's brother, Prince David Dlamini, leaves the power structure unchanged. There is no mention of political parties in the document, although freedom of association is guaranteed in a Bill of Rights. Freedom of assembly is also promised. Currently, police strictly enforce a ban on political gatherings. "A lot of people hoped that the constitution would unban political parties, and move political reform forward. Obviously, there are segments in society who feel nothing has changed," said Joshua Mzizi, secretary-general of the Human Rights Association of Swaziland. "You can't have a constitution that is supposed to be the highest law in the land when there is a king who is superior to the constitution. His word then becomes the supreme law of the land. Some political activists feel the 'guarantees' of free speech, assembly and association are hollow when they can be suspended in a state of emergency, which the draft constitution makes relatively easy to call," a human rights activist told IRIN. SWAYOCO said its call to arms was a defensive strategy against what it termed a "police state" that uses violent repression against its critics. It also labelled King Mswati's call for a national dialogue a deception, as governance remains in non-democratic hands. Beyond increased security measures, the government has not responded to the SWAYOCO statement.