Journalists in Swaziland were blocked from taking
photographs of the human rights abuser, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, when he arrived to visit King Mswati III, sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch.
The president arrived in the kingdom this week with a delegation of more than 50 people, including investors who were
looking for business opportunities.
The Swazi Observer,
a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, reported, ‘The media
was initially turned back from the airport as it was stated that orders were
that no pictures be captured of the president’s visit to Swaziland.
‘A protocol officer only referred to as Shongwe approached journalists
who were taking pictures of those present at the airport and informed them to
stop at once.
‘“I have been instructed to tell you that you aren’t allowed to take
pictures of this private visit so please delete what you have,” Shongwe
warned.
‘As he addressed the journalists, more than 12 police officers came
threateningly and surrounded the group of perplexed journalists and closely
monitored the situation. Shongwe later retracted his statement and stated
that his superiors had changed their minds, allowing media houses to report on
the visit.’
King Mswati has a close relationship with the President of Equatorial
Guinea. It was reported in January 2012 that the King
had done a deal with the President to import crude oil into his kingdom.
Thembinkosi Mamba,
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, said at
the time the Swazi Government had plans to build its own refinery so that, in
future, crude oil would be brought directly to Swaziland for refinement and
separation, thereby, cutting down on costs.
Swazi
Media Commentary reported at the time that the deal looked to be something special the King had dreamt up. In the past, as with the US$5
billion power
plant deal that turned out to be a con-trick, the King had bypassed his
parliament and made deals on his own initiative.
At the time of the oil
refinery deal, Obiang’s regime had been labelled one
of the world’s most corrupt by international rights groups. Transparency
International ranked Equatorial Guinea 168th out of 178 countries for its
efforts in tackling corruption.
Human rights abuses in Equatorial Guinea are well documented. The US
State Department, in a report on
Equatorial Guinea published in May 2012, revealed, corruption and impunity
continued to be big human rights problems in Equatorial Guinea.
‘Security forces extorted money from citizens and immigrants at police
checkpoints. There was no internal investigation unit within the police, and
mechanisms to investigate allegations of abuse were poorly developed.’
It added, ‘security forces sometimes committed abuses with impunity. The
government did not maintain effective internal or external mechanisms to
investigate security force abuses.’
Lawyers in the country report arbitrary arrests. ‘Lawyers did not have
access to police stations and could not contact detainees while they were held
there; police superintendents when interviewed stated they did not see the need
for or advisability of such access.
In 2012, newspapers in Swaziland suppressed news about Mbasogo during
his visit to Swaziland when instructed to do so by a Swazi Government minister.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland Chapter reported
in its annual review on media freedom, ‘In January 2012, Minister of Information, Communication and Technology
(ICT), Winnie Magagula held an impromptu meeting with all [print] editors ,
where she told them they must positively report the visit of Equatorial Guinean
President, Teodora Obiang Nguema Mbasago.
‘The newspapers heeded her
directive: all the media houses waxed lyrical about the expected socio-economic
benefits to be reaped from a questionable oil deal.
‘The editors suppressed
President Mbasago’s negative stories of graft and repression that were run by
the international media. In fact, the Swazi
Observer was forced to apologise for a cable news item published by SAPA
(South African Press Association) that negatively exposed the President.’
See also
VERY CRUDE SWAZILAND OIL DEAL
SWAZI GIFT FROM HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS
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