Mswati shoots and kills warder in an attempted coup,aggrieved officers appeal for an international investigation.
BY ZWELI MARTIN DLAMINI
Swaziland News,04 April 2023
MBABANE: King Mswati allegedly shot and killed a warder on Sunday morning for allegedly organizing a team of soldiers, police and correctional services officers to shoot and kill him as political temperatures continue to rise in this tiny Kingdom.
It has been disclosed that the warder had established a WhatsApp group where the plot to kill and remove Mswati from the Throne was discussed at length,at least eighty-one(81)security officers were in that group.
King Mswati, an absolute Monarch who rules eSwatini as a dictator, has been struggling with internal security for some time now.
It has been revealed that he opted to hire mercenaries after realizing that some aggrieved security officers were reluctant to take his orders and kill political activists, he now operates with what is known as a Special Force that includes his Chief Mercenary Arno Pienaar, other trusted soldiers, warders and police officers.
Reached for comments, King’s Spokesperson Percy Simelane said as the King’s Office they have no reason to buy into the allegations suggesting that the King killed a warder.
“We have no reasons to buy into the allegations until evidence is shared. Currently the King's Office is not aware that there was an incident of this magnitude on Sunday but no one saw it and no one remembers it at the Palace”,said the King’s Spokesperson when responding to our questionnaire on Tuesday morning.
As the political tension escalates in this tiny Kingdom, the Correctional Services Department is slowly becoming the centre of the orchestrated plan to remove Mswati from the Throne.
Recently,two warders,Bheka Magagula and Muzi Gina disappeared with State weapons to join the pro-democracy underground forces.
But the information of the shooting of the warder first reached this investigative journalist on Sunday morning through a businessman whose relative is a soldier working closely with Mswati.
“Yati ngitsi ngishayela lomunye umnaketfu lana utsi angibuye ngimshayele basayoshisa li-Warder lidutjulwe nguMswati nyalo,bebatama kumketula,asoyiphenye lendzaba(meaning:I was calling my brother who is a soldier and told me that they are busy burning a warder who has just been shot by the King for attempting to dethrone him, please investigate),” said the businessman.
On Monday evening around 2153 hours, a very senior member of the Correctional Services Union sent a message, informing this journalist about the incident and asking him to be alert as the State media might soon report misleading information suggesting that a warder had committed suicide.
The senior Correctional Services Union leader said the killing of security officers by Mswati has been going on for some time now,he alleged that others were killed after being caught having sex with some of his wives.
The message as quoted directly reads; “Mswaty uthole lokutsi sole officers afuna kumbeka phansi ngenhlavu(and it will,it’s a matter of tym).Watsi alilandvwe linye lalama officer wavele watishayela yena ngenhlavu(yesterday Sunday morning)(meaning:Mswati discovered that some officers want to shoot and kill him and it will happen,it’s a just a matter of time),then he ordered that one of the officers must be apprehended, he then shot and killed him yesterday(Sunday morning)”, reads the message.
The name of the warder who was allegedly killed by Mswati is known to this Swaziland News, however,it cannot be revealed for now pending further investigation into the matter that seems to be a serious threat to King Mswati’s Throne.
But an insider very close to the matter told this publication that the aggrieved officers plotting to remove and kill King Mswati have been secretly smuggling weapons to a secluded place for some time now.
“This is not something that could be achieved overnight, every aggrieved officer was advised to keep quiet, salute superiors and pretend as if everything is normal. But if a chance to smuggle weapons comes, you do it quietly without telling anyone and keep your weapon safe. We are not intimidated by the killing of the warder,in fact some weeks ago he killed a soldier but he can’t kill all of us. We are patiently monitoring him”, said the insider within the aggrieved officers.
On another note, the Correctional Services Union has appealed for an international investigation into the shooting of their colleague on Sunday, they promised to share more information of the events leading to the alleged killing of the warder by King Mswati.
Speaking to this Swaziland News, Bongnkosi ‘IB’ Dlamini, the
6 сен 2024
