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Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and also known by its former official name Swaziland and formerly the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, south, and southeast. At no more than 200 km (120 mi) north to south and 130 km (81 mi) east to west, Eswatini is one of the smallest countries in Africa; despite this, its climate and topography are diverse, ranging from a cool and mountainous highveld to a hot and dry lowveld.
Eswatini is an absolute monarchy with constitutional provisions and Swazi law and Custom. The head of state is the king or Ngwenyama, currently King Mswati III, who ascended to the throne in 1986 after the death of his father King Sobhuza II in 1982 and a period of regency. According to the constitution of Eswatini, the king and Ingwenyama is a symbol of unity and the eternity of the Swazi nation. By tradition, the king reigns along with his mother or a ritual substitute, the Ndlovukati. The former was viewed as the administrative head of state and the latter as a spiritual and national head of state, with real power counterbalancing that of the king, but during the long reign of Sobhuza II the role of the Ndlovukati became more symbolic. The king appoints the prime minister from the legislature and also appoints a minority of legislators to both chambers of Libandla (parliament), with help from an advisory council. The king is allowed by the constitution to appoint some members to parliament for special interests. These special interests are citizens who might have been left out by the electorate during the course of elections or did not enter as candidates. This is done to balance views in parliament. Special interests could be people of gender, race, disability, business community, civic society, scholars, chiefs and so on. The Senate consists of 30 members, of which some are appointed by the king on recommendation of the advisory council and others elected by the lower house. The House of Assembly has 65 seats, of which 55 are occupied by elected representatives from the 55 constituencies around the country, and 10 are appointed by the king on recommendation of the advisory council. The attorney general is the ex-officio member. Elections are held every five years.
Artifacts indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age have been found in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The earliest known inhabitants of the region were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. Later, the population became predominantly Nguni during and after the great Bantu migrations. People speaking languages ancestral to the current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century. The country now derives its name from a later king named Mswati II. Mswati II was the greatest of the fighting kings of Eswatini, and he greatly extended the area of the country to twice its current size. The people of Eswatini largely belong to a number of clans that can be categorized as Emakhandzambili, Bemdzabu, and Emafikamuva, depending on when and how they settled in Eswatini.
Mswati III is Ngwenyama (King) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He heads Africa’s last absolute monarchy, as he has veto power over all branches of government and is constitutionally immune from prosecution.
The flag of Eswatini was adopted on 6 October 1968 after Eswatini gained independence from the British Empire one month before. The design by King Sobhuza II features a black and white shield, with a staff and two spears, on a field of blue, yellow, and red horizontal bands.
The Swazi or Swati are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa, and South Africa's Mpumalanga province. EmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose origins can be traced through archaeology to East Africa where similar traditions, beliefs and cultural practices are found.
Sobhuza II,, was Ngwenyama (King) of Swaziland for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history.
Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Service is the state-owned broadcast and print information provider of Eswatini, which essentially wields total control over all media within the country. It was founded in 1966 as a radio broadcaster, and was merged with print media in the early 1970s. It is a member of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. Since 1991, it has been under the Ministry of Broadcasting, Information and Tourism, and is responsible for:
- Radio and television broadcasting services;
- Newspapers, magazines, and other printed governmental publications;
- Government information services, including internet;
- Accreditation of foreign news reporters and correspondents operating in Eswatini.
The Parliament of Eswatini is bicameral, consisting of a lower chamber and an upper one. Some of the members of both chambers are elected, while the rest are appointed by the King of Eswatini. Election is by secret ballot in a first-past-the-post system of voting. Members of both chambers serve for five-year terms. All candidates run on a non-partisan basis, as political parties are banned.
Lobamba is a city in Eswatini, and is one of the two capitals, serving as the legislative, traditional, spiritual, seat of government of the Parliament of Eswatini, and Ludzidzini Royal Village, the residence of Queen Ntfombi, the Queen Mother.
The House of Assembly of Eswatini is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. The Assembly may debate and pass bills, although as the country is an absolute monarchy, the role of the legislature is mostly advisory.
The Senate of Eswatini is the upper chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. The Senate may debate or pass a bill, with the exception of a "money bill", which must first be introduced in the lower chamber, the House of Assembly.
In Eswatini, an inkhundla is an administrative subdivision smaller than a district but larger than an umphakatsi. There are 55 tinkhundla in Eswatini: 14 in Hhohho District, 11 in Lubombo District, 16 in Manzini District, and 14 in Shishelweni District. According to the constitution of Eswatini, the government for Eswatini is a democratic, participatory, tinkhundla-based system that emphasizes devolution of state power from central government to tinkhundla areas and individual merit as a basis for election or appointment to public office. The system is non-partisan since the constitution does not recognize political parties, although section 25 of the constitution allows for open freedom of assembly and association. Each inkhundla elects one representative to the House of Assembly of Eswatini, the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament (Libandla). The same trend is applied in local government elections. This governing system was designed by King Sobhuza II with the assistance of political scholars and lawyers. It came to effect in 1978 and was adjusted in the early 1990s.
The House of Dlamini is the royal house of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Mswati III, as king and Ngwenyama of Eswatini, is the current head of the house of Dlamini. Swazi kings up to the present day are referred to as Ingwenyama and they rule together with the Queen Mother who is called Indlovukati. The Swazi kings, like other Nguni nations, practice polygamy and thus have many wives and children.
Monarchy was the prevalent form of government in the history of Africa, where self-governing states, territories, or nations existed in which supreme power resided with an individual who was recognized as the head of state. Many such states exist today. All are similar in that the sovereign inherits their office and typically keeps it until their death or until their abdication.
iNgwenyama is the title of the male monarch of Eswatini. In English, the title is sometimes translated as King of Eswatini. The iNgwenyama reigns together with the Ndlovukazi, a spiritual leadership position held by the iNgwenyama's mother or another female royal of high status.
The Imbokodvo National Movement (INM) was a political party in Swaziland that existed from 1964 until 1973, when political parties were banned. The party was formed by the Swazi National Council, which was the advisory body to King Sobhuza II. It won the first democratic election in Swaziland held in 1967. The party also won the second parliamentary election in 1972. The INM effectively ceased to exist after the banning of political parties in 1973 after the annulment on the constitution and the introduction of a decree in the country.
Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini is the union government created by the constitution of Eswatini where the monarch holds supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The Ngwenyama (lion) is a hereditary leader, rules the country, with the assistance of a council of ministers and a national legislature.
Eswatini remained a British protectorate throughout World War II. As such, it fought alongside the Allies against the Axis. While no large scale battles or major military operations took place in or around Eswatini, the colony did supply the Allies with troops during the war. World War II was also responsible for several important domestic developments in Eswatini.
Eswatini nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Eswatini, as amended; the Swaziland Citizenship Act, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Eswatini. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the state under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the nation. Eswatini nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in Eswatini, or jus sanguinis, born to parents with Eswatini nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation or the traditional khonta system.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Dlamini, Hlengiwe Portia (2019). A constitutional history of the kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland), 1960-1982. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-24776-8.
- 1 2 "State Opening :: Parliament of the Kingdom of Eswatini". 2 August 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-08-02.
- ↑ The Parliamentarian: Journal of the Parliaments of the Commonwealth. General Council of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. 1966.
- ↑ Fairlie, Michael (1992). No Time Like the Past. Pentland Press. ISBN 978-1-872795-49-2.