Africa-Press – Eswatini. Some Members of Parliament have reacted with shock to news that their colleague, Kwaluseni MP Sibusiso Mabhanisi Dlamini may have been coerced into becoming a State witness.
Some of the MPs are concerned that the very same laws they were entrusted with enacting were now used against them, into forcing them to do things against their will and further wondered what the country was turning into. Due to the current volatile situation in the country, some of the MPs insisted that their identities should be concealed, while others openly shared their reactions on the matter.
During an interview with this newspaper on Sunday, MP Dlamini spoke out and broke his silence on his decision to testify in the case of two MPs, MP Mduduzi Mabuza and MP Mthandeni Dube.
In an interesting twist of events, the MP has disclosed that it was not his decision to become a State witness in the case of the two MPs, but that he was summoned to appear in court.
The legislator has further clarified that he tried by all means to find a way around it, but he was threatened with jail time and being charged with contempt, since this was a State matter. Gilgal MP Kenneth Sandla Fakudze said he was shocked by the revelation made by his colleague, and said this raised a number of questions.
Shocking
“It is shocking and scary that as MPs we will now be forced to do things against our will under the notion that it was a State matter,” he said. He further said Dlamini’s assertions made him wonder if the very laws they were making would now be used against them, and what it meant if a person of a calibre of an MP would be threatened to testify against their will.
“One also wonders if these tactics were not used on the judges and if they were not coerced to bend and twist the law,” added Fakudze. Shiselweni II MP Strydom Mpanza declined to comment on the matter just yet, stating that he would be in a better position to comment once he had personally met with his colleague and heard this directly from him.
One of the MPs who opted for anonymity said he would never have agreed to testify, no matter the circumstances. “Whoever had come to me and for whatever reason they did, I would not have blatantly refused to be dragged into this,” he said.
He added that he would have been within his right to refuse to become a witness. He further clarified that he did not blame his colleague for agreeing to testify as it was against his will but pointed out that Dlamini should have consulted his colleagues for advice before making the decision.
Another MP, who requested his identity to be concealed, said if this was true, he was concerned that the country was being reduced to a military state. “If this is what really happened, we are headed in the wrong direction as a country,” said the legislator.
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