Mswati III

[10] Pro-democracy protests from 2021 onwards have been violently dispersed and political activists have been arrested, subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, and their homes have been raided by security forces.[11][12] The government exercises total control over the broadcast media, including the only privately owned TV channel, which belongs to the royal family.[23][24] Mswati III was born on 19 April 1968 at Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital, Manzini, the son of Sobhuza II (who had 70 wives during his reign of 82 years).[26] Mswati was introduced as crown prince in September 1983 and was crowned king on 25 April 1986, aged 18 years and 6 days, thus making him one of the youngest reigning monarchs of the late 20th century,[27][28] Today King Mswati III is Africa's last absolute monarch in the sense that he has the power to choose the prime minister, other top government posts and top traditional posts.Mswati ruled by decree, but he chose to restore the nation's Parliament, which had been dissolved by his father in order to ensure concentration of power remained with the king.[27] In an attempt to mitigate the HIV and AIDS pandemic in 2001, the king used his traditional powers to invoke a time-honoured chastity rite (umcwasho) under the patronage of a princess, which encouraged all Swazi maidens to abstain from sexual relations for five years.This circle includes South African investors who have come to Eswatini to find labour at one-third the cost and a group of white businessmen who are heirs to the British settlers.[38] His attendance at the May 2012 Sovereign Monarchs lunch, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, caused some controversy, given criticisms of his regime's human rights record.[14] The Prime Minister's Office issued a press statement saying the article in the Times of Swaziland was "reckless and untrue" and that the proposal was for the construction of 5 State Houses, not Palaces, and the cost was only €19.9 million.[49] In August 2008, hundreds of Swazi women marched through the capital to protest the cost of a shopping spree taken abroad by nine of the King's thirteen wives.
Mswati and Sibonelo Mngometulu with US President Barack Obama on 5 August 2014
Mswati and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Eswatini on 17 April 2018
Mswati with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 21 October 2019
Some of his wives meeting Akie Abe , wife of then-Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe , in 2013
King Mswati at the Reed Dance 2006
Royal standard of Mswati III
NgwenyamaKing of EswatiniCoronationSobhuza IIManziniSwaziland ProtectorateSibonelo MngometuluSenteni MasangoZena MahlanguNothando DubeSindiswa DlaminiDlaminiNtfombi TfwalaChristianityEswatiniSwazi royal familyabsolute monarchyProtectorate of Swazilandrule by decreeNdlovukatiabsolute monarchPro-democracy protestspolygamyBarack ObamaTaiwaneseTsai Ing-wenShinzo Aberuled by decreeAmnesty InternationalchastityumcwashoTaiwanPeople's Republic of ChinaCOVID-192021 Eswatini protestsCommunist Party of SwazilandMozambiqueThemba Nhlanganiso MasukuSuccession to the Swazi throneAkie AbePeople's United Democratic MovementDiamond JubileeQueen Elizabeth IIReed DanceMaybach 62Times of Swazilandpublic fundsLudzidzini Royal VillagePhesheya DlaminiSwazilandUnited KingdomVenerable Order of St JohnSouth AfricaOrder of Good HopeWithout the KingPrincess SikhanyisoWayback MachineCape ArgusTaipei TimesAl Jazeera EnglishPeople's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO)European Union Institute for Security StudiesThe Daily TelegraphIndependent OnlineDaily NationRoutledgeCRC PressNtfombiMonarchs of Eswatini (Swaziland)Dlamini IIINgwane IIILaYaka NdwandweNdvungunyeLomvula MndzebeleSobhuza ILojiba SimelaneMswati IITsandzile NdwandweCrown Prince Ludvonga IIDlamini IVTibati NkambuleNgwane VLabotsibeni Gwamile MdluliQueen DzeliwePrince Sozisa DlaminiQueen NtfombiSisile KhumaloLabotsibeni MdluliLomawa NdwandweNukwase NdwandweZihlathi Ndwandwe/MkhatjwaSeneleleni NdwandweDzeliwe ShongweCurrent monarchs of sovereign statesLetsie IIIMohammed VIJigme Khesar Namgyel WangchuckHassanal BolkiahNorodom SihamoniNaruhitoAbdullah IIMishalIbrahim IskandarHaithamSalmanVajiralongkornMohamedJoan Enric Vives i SicíliaEmmanuel MacronPhilippeFrederik XHans-Adam IIAlbert IIWillem-AlexanderHarald VFelipe VICarl XVI GustafCharles IIIFrancisTupou VICurrent heirs of sovereign monarchies