By James Hall
ReutersJanuary 23, 2003
The International Monetary Fund has warned against plans for Swaziland's king to buy a multimillion dollar luxury jet while a quarter of people in the tiny African kingdom face starvation.
Last year King Mswati attracted widespread international criticism after the government announced plans for the 34-year-old monarch to buy a $45 million private jet.
"The acquisition of a new airplane for the king would crowd out social needs and deter donor support while depleting foreign exchange reserves," the IMF report said.
The IMF report, distributed to Swazi media on Tuesday, said food shortages and HIV/AIDS were worsening the impact of high unemployment, income disparity and poverty in Swaziland.
Nearly 40 percent of the southern African country's adults are HIV positive. More than a quarter of its one million people face starvation due to drought and land mismanagement.
Political analysts say Swaziland is facing its worst crisis since 1973 when Mswati's father, King Sobhuza, scrapped the constitution, banned political opposition and seized absolute power.
On Tuesday, the country's labour groups postponed until March a mass strike planned for later this week. The action, to protest at what the groups say is increasingly autocratic behaviour by their king, was postponed to allow different organisations to coordinate their plans. A strike in December fizzled out because of poor attendance.
Swaziland tipped into political crisis last year after the government, which serves at the king's pleasure, rejected court rulings that sought to place limits on the young monarch's rule.
A mother took the palace to court in October, alleging King Mswati arranged for her daughter to be abducted to become his 10th wife.
A new Coalition of Concerned Civil Organisations, uniting the kingdom's most influential business, legal and human rights groups and labour unions, was formed after the failure of last year's strike to pressure the government on political reform. It planned to hold a series of events before the March stayaway, Jan Sithole, secretary-general of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions said. A Swazi court on Tuesday refused to grant a court injunction sought by government lawyers against the March mass action.
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