Swaziland, now known as Eswatini became a British Protectorate in 1906. A resident Commissioner governed the Protectorate who was himself subject to the British High Commissioner for South Africa. With time, the system of indirect rule was introduced where the Swazi Monarch governed the people on behalf of the British government.
In the early years of indirect rule, the British assumed that the small kingdom of Swaziland would eventually be assimilated into the much larger South Africa. But after the Second World War, South Africa's heightened racial discrimination made the United Kingdom to prepare Swaziland for complete independence. But actual independence did not come until 1968. It was in the 1960s that political activities began to intensify and most of the political parties were established that period, the first being the Swaziland Progressive Party. The Swaziland Progressive Party was the first political party established in Swaziland. In 1929, a Progressive Association was founded under the auspices of the Resident Commissioner of the British Empire. As at 1935, the Association still had less than 100 members. John Nquku served as the association’s President from 1945. While still under the leadership of the widely traveled John Nquku, the Association was transformed into a party called The Swaziland Progressive Party (SPP). This was between 1959-1960. The party began to move for self-government and then independence.
2 авг 2024
