Corruption is rife at the deputy prime minister's office as government officials and senior officers are said to be enriching themselves from the King's [Mswati] 40m emalangeni Regional Development Fund.

By tradition, Swazis of all generations and genders show their devotion to their monarchs and fealty to their chiefs by providing labour for chores both practical and symbolic. Recently, the custom has drawn fire from pro-democracy groups, who claim the practice of tribute labour violates human rights.

Opposed by meek pro-democracy forces, King Mswati's government is likely to succeed in promulgating a new constitution to preserve palace power, Swazi political analysts told IRIN. "Mswati seems like small potatoes compared to Robert Mugabe and other national leader cutthroats," said a Manzini businessman. "No one has ever died in political violence here, and there aren't even any demonstrations anymore. Why should the world bother with little Swaziland?"

What can a small impoverished nation do to
preserve its environment when faced with a destructive population growth
rate and an imperative to lure industrial investment to create jobs? While Swaziland, a landlocked kingdom of less than one million people,
struggles with these questions, conservationists are heartened by the first
major victory of an environmental monitoring body whose success is by no
means assured.