Mswati planning lavish party
2005-03-10 22:26
Mbabane - Swaziland's King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch, will fete his 37th birthday next month with a $1.7m bash, a daily said Thursday.
"For this year's celebrations we are setting aside a sum of 9 726 135 emalangeni. The money includes personal costs, travel, communication, professional and special services costs," finance minister Mazoji Sithole told the Times of Swaziland.
Mswati, who has ruled Swaziland by decree since he ascended to the throne in 1986 at the age of 18, is no stranger to controversy mainly over the lavish lifestyle that he, his 11 wives and two teenage fiancees lead.
In December, Mswati bought himself a $500 000 Daimler Chrysler flagship Maybach 62 as his debt-ridden country battled crippling poverty and what the UN Aids agency has said is the world's highest Aids infection rate.
Under international pressure, Mswati ordered a new constitution to be drafted nine years ago but the proposed fundamental law currently before parliament leaves intact most of his powers and maintains a ban on the opposition.
More than 65% of Swaziland's 1.2 million inhabitants live on less than one dollar a day and about 200 000 people depend on food hand-outs to survive in the kingdom.
Mswati come under pressure from South Africa earlier this month when President Thabo Mbeki invited the king for talks in Pretoria to try to push him towards democratic reforms.
Swaziland has the world's highest per capita rate of HIV infection at 38.8% in the kingdom, according to UN estimates.