Africa-Press – Eswatini. Wandile Dludlu,the Deputy President of eSwatini’s main and largest political party, the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO) has, on behalf of the political organization, expressed disappointment following the decision of the United States(US) to renew AGOA benefits for the tiny Kingdom.
AGOA stands for African Growth and Opportunity Act, it was introduced by the US Government to assist developing African countries grow their economy by trading or exporting certain goods to the US without paying tax.
Speaking to Voice of America(VOA) this week, the senior PUDEMO leader highlighted the conviction of pro-democracy Members of Parliament(MPs) Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube on politically motivated terrorism charges, as part of the ongoing human rights violations in eSwatini.
Dludlu further highlighted the assassination of highly regarded eSwatini human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, the Chairperson of the pro-democracy MultiStakeholder Forum(MSF). He accused the eSwatini Government of refusing to allow an international independent investigation into the assassination of the lawyer who was an advocate of justice.
“We have MPs who are languishing in jail and have been convicted on the basis of the Suppression of Terrorism Act, for which not only was copied from the American version, but has been greatly supported by the same American government. And in our context, it is being used as a bush knife against pro-democracy forces and human rights activists. And we think it’s very much an inconsistency on the part of the government of the U.S. We have a very hostile political environment [here in Eswatini], wherein the same government that they are opening markets to have refused to allow the international community to conduct an independent investigation on the murder,” said the PUDEMO leader when speaking to the Voice of America.
Eswatini is ruled by Mswati an absolute Monarch, political parties are banned from participating in elections, while human rights defenders are arrested, tortured, forced to exile or killed for demanding democracy.
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