SWAZILAND POLL AS SATIRE

It was the American satirist Tom Lehrer who said he gave up satire when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize because he could never top that.

I sometimes feel like that about Swaziland. So much that King Mswati III and the ruling elite do is so off the wall it is impossible to make fun of it. Just think about their love for Swaziland’s ‘unique democracy’ (no political parties, no power in parliament and the King makes all the important decisions) and you see what I mean.

Which brings me to someone who is satirizing Swaziland just now.

The Hayibo.com blogsite is today carrying the following:

King Mswati eager to take Swaziland forward into 16th Century

MBABANE. Africa's last absolute monarch, King Mswati III, has urged his subjects to vote in today's general election, saying that it was "high time Swaziland moved forward into the 16th Century". He also promised that anyone who refused to vote, or who spoiled their ballot, would be fed to hyenas. Swazis will be voting Yes for Mswati, or No to representative democracy.

The elections have been widely condemned as a sham as Mswati has outlawed political parties. However the king continues to deny these claims, and this morning his spokesman, Prince Valiant Mswati XI, insisted that the elections would lead to political parties.

"We have political parties," said Prince Valiant. "We have them all the time.

"We dress up as famous politicians, and party like wild beasts.

"And this time will be no different. When the will of the Swazi people is heard, when they demand ten more years of benign smiley semi-nude awesomeness from our King, we will have another political party.

"I can officially state that it is going to be off the hook, because we've just bought another shipment of maidens from their parents in the highlands."

For more click here.