{"id":23854,"date":"2023-03-18T10:02:37","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T10:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?p=23854"},"modified":"2023-03-18T10:09:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T10:09:06","slug":"government-spokespersonking-was-not-ordering-the-police-to-stop-using-guns-with-his-silence-guns-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/government-spokespersonking-was-not-ordering-the-police-to-stop-using-guns-with-his-silence-guns-statement","title":{"rendered":"GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON:King was not ordering the police to stop using guns with his \u201csilence guns statement\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span>Alpheous Nxumalo,the Government Spokesperson has clarified that King Mswati,with his \u201csilence the guns\u201d statement,was not ordering police officers to stop using guns when conducting their duties.<\/b><\/p>\n

Mswati\u2019s soldiers and the police have killed dozens of civilians merely for demanding democracy since the political unrest erupted in June 2021.<\/p>\n

But the King subsequently called for the \u201csilencing of guns\u201d after the establishment of a pro-democracy underground unit known as the Swaziland International Solidarity Forces(SISF).<\/p>\n

The underground forces were targeting police officers and soldiers including high profile people who were allegedly linked in the killing of civilians.<\/p>\n

Pro-democracy Lobamba Lomdzala Member of Parliament(MP)Marwick Khumalo later questioned Cabinet in Parliament demanding to know who King Mswati was referring to when he called for the silencing of guns as police were continuing with the shooting of innocent civilians.<\/p>\n

But in a public statement released on Friday afternoon,Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo warned against the misinterpretation of the King\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost,this call from the Throne is legitimate,urgent and imperative.However,Government has noted with concerns the obvious misinterpretation and application of the call to \u201cSilence the Guns\u201d.His Majesty\u2019s call was inspired by the African Union\u2019s Agenda 2063.It aspires to end wars and conflicts,prevent genocide and stop gender-based violence.It seeks to free Africa from the many destructive effects of gun-related violence and armed conflicts by the year 2030.Primarily,guns that need to be and must be silenced are those which are illegitimately or illegally in the hands of people in the country.The call to silence the guns was never directed to the national security services,especially the police service.To make inferences that the call means that the police can no longer legitimately use guns to protect themselves when being attacked by criminals and by other rowdy elements in society,is not only mischievous but also plain naive,\u201dsaid the Government Spokesperson in a statement released on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Reached for comments,Mlungisi Makhanya,the President of the People\u2019s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO) described the Government statement as an arrogant confirmation that the innocent citizens who died were killed at the command of the King.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur final message would be this;he who lives by the sword,dies by the sword,\u201dsaid the PUDEMO President.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eswatini<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. Alpheous Nxumalo,the Government Spokesperson has clarified that King Mswati,with his \u201csilence the guns\u201d statement,was not ordering police officers to stop using guns when conducting their duties. Mswati\u2019s soldiers and the police have killed dozens of civilians merely for demanding democracy since the political unrest erupted in June 2021. But the King subsequently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234,248,249],"class_list":["post-23854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eswatini","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"\nGOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON:King was not ordering the police to stop using guns with his \u201csilence guns statement\u201d - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alpheous Nxumalo,the Government Spokesperson has clarified that King Mswati,with his \u201csilence the guns\u201d statement,was ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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