Mswati III is Ngwenyama of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family.
He was born in Manzini in the Protectorate of Swaziland to King Sobhuza II and one of his younger wives, Ntfombi Tfwala. He was crowned as Mswati III, Ingwenyama and King of Swaziland, on 25 April 1986 at the age of 18, thus becoming the youngest ruling monarch in the world at that time.
With unrestricted political power and able to rule by decree, Mswati III is the last remaining absolute monarch in Africa and one of the only 12 remaining absolute national or subnational monarchs in the world. Under the constitution, the king is the commander-in-chief of the defence force and commissioner-in-chief of police and correctional services and Mswati III exercises ultimate authority over all branches of the national government and effectively controls local governance through his influence over traditional chiefs.Mswati III is known for his practice of polygamy and currently has 15 wives. Formerly named Swaziland, in 2018 Mswati III renamed the country Eswatini by decree.Under his reign, political dissent and civic and labor activism are subject to harsh punishment under sedition and other laws. Political parties have been banned in Eswatini since 1973 when a state of emergency was declared that has continued ever since. 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 were raided by security forces. The government exercises total control over the broadcast media, including the only privately owned TV channel, which belongs to the royal family. Almost all media outlets are controlled, directly or indirectly, by Mswati III.
Mswati III has also been accused of fiscal mismanagement and having a lavish lifestyle in sharp contrast to the lives of most Emaswazi people. In 2022, an estimated 32% of the population lived below the $2.15/day international poverty line while 55% of the population was under the lower-middle-income country poverty line of $3.65/day. Wikipedia
Mswati III (2019) cited in: " Allies voice support for Taiwan's inclusion in U.N. activities http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201909260004.aspx" in Focus Taiwan, 26 September 2019. <br class="br">Statement made during the General Debate of the 74th general assembly of the United Nations, 25 September 2019.
