A Prince and a Pauper

Listen to Today's Edition:

Eswatini’s main opposition party accused the government of poisoning its leader this week, an incident that has revived international criticism of the southern African kingdom where authorities have banned political parties and cracked down on dissent, the Guardian reported.

Mlungisi Makhanya, the president of the People’s United Democratic Movement party (PUDEMO), was hospitalized Tuesday after allegedly being poisoned at his home in neighboring South Africa.

The opposition leader had been living in exile.

PUDEMO secretary-general Penuel Malinga said Makhanya had been served poisoned food and locked in his bedroom by an unnamed cook. He added that the opposition figure was in a critical but stable condition and is expected to recover.

Malinga called the poisoning “a clear assassination attempt by the (Eswatini) state.” Government officials denied any involvement.

Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo said it was “not in our policy as the government to either kill or poison people who hold a different political view in our country.”

The poisoning came days after Makhanya announced plans for new pro-democracy protests in Eswatini next month.

Landlocked Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, is currently ruled by King Mswati III who has been in power since 1986. Ruling by decree, the monarch has the power to appoint a prime minister, and some lawmakers, as well as veto laws.

Political parties have been banned in the country since the 1970s, although the state allows a few of them to operate, the Associated Press noted.

Opponents and human rights groups have criticized Mswati III for his lavish lifestyle in a country where the majority is poor. Now 56, the king recently became engaged to Nomcembo Zuma, the 21-year-old daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma, who is to become his 16th wife.

He is also known for brutally quashing any dissent against his rule.

In 2021, mass pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in the kingdom, prompting authorities to launch a crackdown that killed at least 46 people, according to Human Rights Watch.

Makhanya’s poisoning comes more than a year after another PUDEMO member, Thulani Maseko, was shot dead at his home in front of his wife and children.

Eswatini officials promised an investigation – but, to date, there have been no convictions in the case. Makhanya decried Maseko’s murder as a political assassination, but the kingdom dismissed the accusations.