[afro-nets] Swazi King Declares Disaster over Drought and AIDS

[The Southern Health & Ecology Institute <shae@worldonline.co.za>]

Swazi King Declares Disaster over Drought and AIDS
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SWAZILAND: February 23, 2004

MBABANE - Swaziland's King Mswati, under fire for high royal
spending, has declared a humanitarian disaster in his impover-
ished African country ravaged by drought and HIV/AIDS-a move
aimed at bringing in more foreign aid.

"On behalf of His Majesty's government, I appeal to the interna-
tional community to assist and make whatever available resources
in order to respond effectively to the challenges the country is
facing," Prime Minister Themba Dlamini said as he announced the
move at a news conference.

Sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch, Mswati has been
criticized for pushing through expensive royal projects even
though a quarter of his one million subjects receive food aid
and 40 percent of Swazi adults are believed to be infected with
HIV/AIDS.

Last month the 36-year-old king hit the headlines again when he
requested US$ 15 million from the government to redecorate his
three main royal palaces and build new ones for each of his 11
wives.

More than two thirds of Swaziland's population lives on less
than US$ 1 per day and economic growth in the tiny landlocked
kingdom between South Africa and Mozambique stands at a meager
1.7 percent annually.

Political observers say Mswati had been reluctant to declare an
official disaster, fearing government expenditure would come un-
der closer scrutiny if it appealed for more foreign aid.

But with the U.N. World Food Program predicting this year's har-
vests will drop for the fifth consecutive year, international
humanitarian organizations have been urging the government to
formalise its disaster declaration.

This does not bring any extra powers for officials or security
forces but is required by many aid organizations to step up
emergency assistance.

"The emergency declaration is essential to free assistance that
some groups in the international community wish to bring to Swa-
ziland," Ben Nsibandze, chairman of the National Disaster Relief
Task Force, told Reuters.

Dlamini, a Mswati loyalist appointed prime minister in late 2003
and speaking on the king's behalf, said AIDS, drought and land
degradation had created a "serious humanitarian crisis" in the
country.

"All these have reinforced negative effects that have created a
web of extreme vulnerability reinforced by the collapse of fam-
ily structures," Dlamini said.

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE