King's jet remains a mystery
2003-08-06 09:14
Mbabane - Confusion reigns about whether King Mswati III is buying a multimillion-dollar personal jet or not.
A top source in his office said on Tuesday that he was buying it and the plane would be used for some heads of state to travel from Johannesburg to an international conference in Swaziland next week.
However, Charles Jele, managing director of Royal Swaziland Airways Corporation - an airline that has been inactive for six years - dismissed the report that King Mswati was buying the plane.
Jele said he was aware of a jet hired to ferry heads of state from Johannesburg to the British Commonwealth Smart Partnership Summit beginning on August 13 in Swaziland.
But he said the plane, a Global Bombardier, had nothing to do with the plane for which the Swazi government had paid a $4m (about R29.7m) deposit last year
"This is mere speculation and there is no iota of truth in it," he said.
The issue of the personal jet has simmered since last year, when pressure from critics at home and international donors prompted the king to announce he would stop the purchase.
Used on trip to America
Swaziland has a high incidence of Aids and had a serious drought-ionduced food shortage last year, making such a purchase a drain on public funds.
But, the source, who spoke to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) on condition of anonymity, said Mswati had used a Global Express Bombardier to travel from Mozambique to the United States recently during a state visit and promotional tour for a Swazi music CD to raise money to fight Aids.
"It is the same plane that was used by his mother when she went to South Africa for medical attention, two months ago," said the source.
The Express Bombardier has already been delivered and registered in Johannesburg under the name of the Royal Swaziland Airways Corporation, said the source.
A parliamentary select committee ruled against buying the jet, saying it went against national interest.
A-G threatened to quit
The United States criticised Mswati late last year about his plans to buy the jet at the height of a famine and threatened to halt financial assistance if he went ahead with the purchase.
In an interview with Cable News Network, Mswati vowed that he had dropped plans to buy the plane.
"If my people do not want it, then I do not want it," he said.
Preparations for the Smart Partnership conference last month generated controversy that prompted Swaziland's attorney-general Phesheya Dlamini to threaten to resign over alleged corruption.
He was outraged about the "extremely fraudulent" expenditure of $1m on a marquee and other material for the summit that had been offered for free from the Commonwealth.
He charged the king's cronies with misusing the Mswati name to get government business. - Sapa-DPA
- SAPA