Swazi King to Build Palaces for Wives
Tue Jan 13, 4:01 PM ET
By THULANI MTHETHWA, Associated Press Writer
MBABANE, Swaziland - Africa's last absolute monarch plans to spend $15 million of his impoverished kingdom's national budget on building new palaces for his wives, royal aides said Tuesday.
The announcement stirred controversy in Swaziland, where more than a quarter of the 1 million people who live there are expected to need food aid this year, according to the United Nations (news - web sites).
King Mswati III has ordered nine palaces built within existing royal compounds to house seven of his 10 wives and two future brides, a senior aide said on customary condition of anonymity.
"It is long overdue for the king's wives to have their own palaces," he said. "In terms of Swazi culture, the king cannot use his father's royal residence to accommodate his wives."
Only Mswati's first wife, 34-year-old lawyer Sibonelo Mngomezulu, lives in her own palace.
A two-story palace has been completed at Buhleni, in the north, for wife number 7, Putsoana Hwala, 24.
Construction has also started on a home for wife number 9, Nontsetselelo Magongo, 20, while 19-year-old bride-to-be Zena Mahlangu's palace is being designed.
The palaces will be funded from the 2004 national budget, which has not been announced yet, aides and family members said.
Pro-democracy activists and trade union leaders have criticized Mswati for the lavish spending when his tiny, drought-stricken kingdom is struggling with a $148 million deficit.
In November, he purchased 15 BMWs for wives of his father, the late King Sobhuza II, at a cost of nearly $1 million.
Last year, three of Mswati's children spent more than $150,000 on flights between Swaziland and Britain, where they are studying.
Paul Shabangu, Mswati's private secretary, declined to comment on the king's spending.
Tue Jan 13, 4:01 PM ET
By THULANI MTHETHWA, Associated Press Writer
MBABANE, Swaziland - Africa's last absolute monarch plans to spend $15 million of his impoverished kingdom's national budget on building new palaces for his wives, royal aides said Tuesday.
The announcement stirred controversy in Swaziland, where more than a quarter of the 1 million people who live there are expected to need food aid this year, according to the United Nations (news - web sites).
King Mswati III has ordered nine palaces built within existing royal compounds to house seven of his 10 wives and two future brides, a senior aide said on customary condition of anonymity.
"It is long overdue for the king's wives to have their own palaces," he said. "In terms of Swazi culture, the king cannot use his father's royal residence to accommodate his wives."
Only Mswati's first wife, 34-year-old lawyer Sibonelo Mngomezulu, lives in her own palace.
A two-story palace has been completed at Buhleni, in the north, for wife number 7, Putsoana Hwala, 24.
Construction has also started on a home for wife number 9, Nontsetselelo Magongo, 20, while 19-year-old bride-to-be Zena Mahlangu's palace is being designed.
The palaces will be funded from the 2004 national budget, which has not been announced yet, aides and family members said.
Pro-democracy activists and trade union leaders have criticized Mswati for the lavish spending when his tiny, drought-stricken kingdom is struggling with a $148 million deficit.
In November, he purchased 15 BMWs for wives of his father, the late King Sobhuza II, at a cost of nearly $1 million.
Last year, three of Mswati's children spent more than $150,000 on flights between Swaziland and Britain, where they are studying.
Paul Shabangu, Mswati's private secretary, declined to comment on the king's spending.
