Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Swaziland Army in “Full Charge” After Protests, Many Killed by King’s Troops
All Africa
15 Jul 2021
🖨️ Print Article
Swaziland Army in “Full Charge” After Protests, Many Killed by King’s Troops
Swaziland Army in “Full Charge” After Protests, Many Killed by King’s Troops

The Swazi military has reportedly warned the population to “obey instructions” or “face full wraith of troops.”

“The army is now fully in charge for real .. not even the police knows what the army is doing now.”

The Army in Swaziland (eSwatini) has taken full charge after mass prodemocracy protests left many people dead, according to a Human Rights Watch official.

Dewa Mavhinga, director for Southern Africa, added reports received by the organization were that the Army were on a “killing spree,”

He said police in Swaziland had reported that the Army had refused to have joint operations so military deployment was not under civilian authority or oversight.

Mavhinga reported, ‘From a police source, the army is now fully in charge for real .. not even the police knows what the army is doing now.

‘They only call the police to collect bodies of people shot and killed.’

The Times of Swaziland reported on Sunday (4 July 2021) “Army declares ‘We have taken over’ and added those who failed to obey instructions “will face full wraith of troops.”

The Times reported the first sight of the army being deployed on the streets was on the previous Tuesday after protesters turned violent. As well as killings there are reports of widespread lootings.

A group from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was in Swaziland on a fact-finding visit, but has yet to make a public statement.

Protests have been taking place across Swaziland for several weeks. People marched on local government offices delivering petitions asking for democratic reforms. King Mswati III rules Swaziland as an absolute monarch. He choses the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers. Political parties are banned from contesting election and groups advocating for democracy are outlawed under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

 This article previously appeared in All Africa.com.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  •  “Colonial Logics” Remained for Black Women in “Liberated” Zimbabwe
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    “Colonial Logics” Remained for Black Women in “Liberated” Zimbabwe
    22 Dec 2020
    Black women “posed a problem” for the Black government that replaced white rule in Zimbabwe, because their bodies were thought to “disturb urban space,” said Rudo Mudiwa, a PhD in
  •  Stokely Carmichael’s Black Power Meets African Liberation
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Stokely Carmichael’s Black Power Meets African Liberation
    22 Dec 2020
    In the political hotbed that was Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1967, US Black Power advocate Stokely Carmichael, who had not yet changed his name to Kwame Ture, made both friends and enemies among th
  • You Can’t Shame the Shameless Black Misleadership Class
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    You Can’t Shame the Shameless Black Misleadership Class
    17 Dec 2020
    The Black misleaders have been busy selling out Black people for half a century, but are still only barely tolerated by the rich man’s Democratic Party and its racist figurehead, Joe Biden.
  • Freedom Rider: Master Biden Speaks
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Master Biden Speaks
    16 Dec 2020
    The civil rights groups’ rather basic requests for voting rights protections and the need for federal intervention to address police brutality were minimized and dismissed by the president-ele
  • Racial Capitalism, Black Liberation, and South Africa
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    Racial Capitalism, Black Liberation, and South Africa
    16 Dec 2020
    The phrase racial capitalism first emerged in the context of the anti-Apartheid and southern African liberation struggles in the 1970s.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us