Swaziland – 10 Jan 2015

Swazi King fell for US$5bn Con-Trick:
The controversy surrounding the Swazi Government’s award of a US$90 million contract to build an oil storage facility without going through the legally-required tender process has rekindled memories of the time King Mswati III fell for a US$5 billion con-trick.

Swazi Media Commentary

Swazi Government pays $90m for oil storage facility without putting the project out for public tender
Last month (December 2014), the media were excluded from a House of Assembly session where a special Act of Parliament was passed to allow the Government to make the payment. Swazi Media Commentary

UNICEF visit Swaziland
A small group of staff members from Unicef UK recently visited Swaziland to see the impact Unicef is making in the country. Although a small country, with a population of 1.25 million, Swaziland faces a number of challenges. One challenge is violence against children. According to a study carried out in 2007, one in three girls experienced some form of sexual violence and a quarter had experienced physical violence.

UNICEF

How much does AGOA really matter:
I have been reminded of a conversation I had last year amid the brouhaha for the May 2014 African Growth and Opportunity Act deadline, when the Swaziland Tourism Board chairman Zachariah Dlamini engaged me on the subject of whether or not this was a loss to the economy, especially on the context of the demands made by the American government. Swazi Observer