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SNUS
solidarity statement to ZINASU
Swaziland
National Union of Students (SNUS)
November 26, 2008
Fellow comrades,
SNUS is in solidarity with ZINASU
and the ordinary people of Zimbabwe who are facing serious threats
under the failing leadership of that country. We are mobilizing
all our networks in the region to render their support towards the
speedy conclusion of the negotiations to which all parties agreed
upon. We call upon sanity to prevail in that country and for the
leaders to understand that everything they do is basically about
the people and not themselves.
Cdes, the Swazi struggle
for democracy has taken another shift with the recent arrest of
Mario Masuku who is president of PUDEMO (liberation movement). Masuku
is currently kept at the Matsapha maximum prison, facing charges
of 'terrorism'. The state has reacted very brutal and, as expected,
harsher towards the progressive formations under the banner of the
Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF- an umbrella body of all
formations calling for the democratization of Swaziland). Just last
weekend, the deputy British High Commissioner to Swaziland was refused
entry into the matsapa maximum prison. The diplomat had wanted to
meet Mario Masuku (arrested PUDEMO president) for purposes of getting
his side of the story. This after having met with the prime minister
in the capital Mbabane.Masuku appeared in court yesterday (Monday
24 November 2008) and the case continues on December 1, 2008.
The American ambassador
to Swaziland has argued the government of Swaziland to commit herself
to genuine dialogue with the political formations instead of reacting
in the manner in which it is doing.
The Swazi people still
live under a state of emergency, created by the 1973 king's decree
through which the king (father to the current king) banned political
parties and criminalized political activity. Since then, the people
of Swaziland have never voted for a government of their own, instead
the king appoints the prime minister, cabinet ministers, parliament,
judges, his advisors and other high ranking officers such as vice
chancellor of the one and only university of the country (king is
the chancellor of the university). The situation is bad as we have
lived to observe and to be victims of the highest form of nepotism,
where the king governs with his mother, brothers, sisters and friends.
The people do not have power and only a few (royal favorites) benefit
from the economy. In a population of 1 million, 600 000 Swazis live
under the poverty line, tens of thousands of our youths do not have
access to education. We are living in a country that does not want
to invest in education (king and his brothers' children go to democratic
countries overseas for education) and health (we are the world's
worst affected country when it comes to HIV/AIDS.
The situation is extremely bad
The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) is requesting its
sister organizations in the region and abroad to help in the situation,
and the first way to help us out of this quagmire is by profiling
our struggle internationally and letting the world know about what
is happening in this very small country in Southern Africa. Help
us avail forums internationally where we can come to talk about
our struggle. Our struggle comrades is not that different from that
of Zimbabwe because we are both confronted with dictators who are
hell bent on staying in power for ever.
Let's unite and eradicate dictatorship in Africa and bring a new
democratic order on our continent.
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