ASPIRING MP FINED COW FOR ILLEGAL MEETING

MBABANE – An aspiring Member of Parliament under Mkhiweni Constituency was yesterday found guilty and told to pay a cow as a fine for convening a meeting without the knowledge of the royal kraal (umphakatsi).

Dvokolwako is one of the chiefdoms under Mkhiweni. The Times SUNDAY has been informed that the meeting took place on Wednesday, wherein the aspiring MP, Masotja Peter Dlamini, called residents of the area to assemble at two different points as there were international development partners who had brought development initiatives to the community. One of the meeting points was reportedly at an area known as Mantjonga, where about 100 residents are said to have showed up and the other point was at a place referred to a Number Eight, where around 200 community members reportedly attended. The meeting was reportedly viewed as part of a campaign process by Dlamini, who is said to have openly declared his willingness to contest in this year’s national general elections.

Investigations by this publication have revealed that a member of the Dvokolwako royal kraal called the Mliba Police Station to report the aspiring MP for allegedly engaging in an illegal campaign. According to the Elections Act of 2013, candidates are only allowed to campaign after the primary elections. The Act states that a ‘candidate’ is any person nominated as a candidate for an election, and it is worth noting that there is currently no candidate as the nomination is only scheduled to take place on June 22 or 23, 2023.

illegal elections campaign

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that someone was reported to them for conducting an illegal elections campaign.
“We spoke to the person and advised him that this was a criminal offence. Yes it did happen. We told him that campaigning at this time was an offence,” Vilakati said. The identity of the development partners cannot be revealed because they could not be reached for comment as the contact person’s mobile phone rang without being answered when called yesterday. However, it can be stated that their projects include drilling boreholes, providing bursaries for online studies and donating food stuffs in communities, mostly those in rural locations.
When the royal kraal saw the meeting between the international development partners and the community members, they are said to have enquired what this gathering was all about and who had called it. “That is when they heard that Dlamini was behind the meeting and the indvuna called him to enquire where he had got permission to call a meeting in the area. Dlamini tried to apologise to the indvuna but he was told that he should appear before the council (libandla) on Saturday (yesterday) to explain himself. He was told that he shoud explain his powers of calling a meeting and also why he was campaigning,” said a resident of the area who is privy to what happened.

Dvokolwako Indvuna Yemcuha (royal kraal headman) Joseph Mgabhi confirmed that Dlamini was summoned to appear before the local council. However, the indvuna denied that the charge had to do with campaigning. “He was summoned for calling the community to meeting without getting permission from the royal kraal. That is what we know. As for the campaigning, we don’t know that. What we know is that he called the residents to a meeting without authority. The royal kraal has a chief and an indvuna to whom every activity in the area is reported before it happens,” he said. Mgabhi refused to respond to information that Dlamini was also reported to the police by the royal kraal for allegedly campaigning illegally. This is despite the confirmation of this information by the police. Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Communications Officer Mbonisi Bhembe said he had spoken to Dlamini but refused to divulge what their engagement entailed. “What we spoke about is between me and him and not for anyone else. But I can confirm that we spoke,” he said.  

When the aspiring MP was contacted yesterday afternoon, he confirmed that he had just returned home from the royal kraal where he had been summoned. “I have just been told to pay a cow as a fine for having called people to a meeting with a team from an organisation that is bringing development to Eswatini. The libandla told me that I do not have powers to call a meeting but I feel this is just victimisation because I have indicated that I will stand for elections if I am nominated for the position of MP. I suspect that the royal kraal has its preferred candidate and they are trying to protect that person’s interests because the elections process is now heating up,” Dlamini said. He said he would appeal the verdict of the council and was now awaiting further direction of that process.

He said even though he respected traditional authority, he was nonetheless also aware of the Bill of Rights as provided for in the country’s Constitution in as far as the protection of freedom of association, assembly and expression is concerned. “The constitution does not say we should report to the royal kraal when we want to meet and that is my gripe,” he said.
He said he would continue to bring development progress to the area but would from now on report to the royal kraal even though he was conscious of the Bill of Rights.

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