By Zweli Martin Dlamini

I once served in the Executive Committee of the Eswatini Editors Forum and after we elected Swazi Observer Managing editor Mbongeni Mbingo during elections that took place the Mountain Inn Hotel-Mbabane, he subsequently sold the media to the highest bidder, taking bribes from powerful people promising him to promote them and further protect and manage their reputations.

But after warning Mbingo several times to stop selling the media and that, he must remember that being the Chairman of the Editors Forum does not mean “he is the editor of all the publications and that, he will tell us what to publish and censor us just because those accused of corruption paid and captured him”.

Mbingo subsequently lobbied other State controlled journalists to isolate me, he said all the media houses must ignore and not report anything about me so that I could be isolated, this was an open discussion in our media forums.

In his shallow mind, Mbingo at the time, undermined the power of online media, he thought an internationally recognized journalist could be promoted by the Swazi Observer that prints less than three thousand(3000) copies and the Times whose print order has been reduced to around seven thousand(7000) copies as the online media completely takes over the narrative and influence of the entire public discourse.

Unfortunately, Mbingo subsequently realized that, I am not an easy push and for the past ten(10) years, he has been battling to push me out of the media because I’ve been consistently exposing his corruption within the Swazi Observer Group of Newspapers.

These elderly journalists are a serious problem in the media because despite the fact that most of them are corrupt to the core, they strive to destroy any journalist who might give them competition and render them irrelevant.

In eSwatini newspapers would emerge and then be closed and State journalists would be among those behind the orchestration seeking to undermine media pluralism.

Now, when Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini announced that, “Cabinet has taken a decision not to respond to this Swaziland News” and with Mbingo enjoying close proximity to the PM, I was able to read between the lines, that “the Prime Minister has been mislead by the Swazi Observer editor who hanged him with a political rope”.

As a political novice, the PM knew nothing about the role of the media in driving and influencing the discourse agenda but, he relied on Mbingo who then used him in his long time battle seeking to fight this Swaziland News that competed fully and rendered the print media irrelevant while exposing his corruption.

The PM is now accusing Cabinet Ministers of leaking information and he is confused because despite his earlier decision not to respond, “the stories are consistently being published and Government lost a case in the High Court of South Africa”.

On the other hand, King Mswati is enjoying a peaceful sleep because he demonstrated transparency and commitment to accountability by directing his Spokesperson to respond, clarify issues and manage his public image.

In my journalism career, I’ve interacted with different Prime Ministers and it was my first time to see a PM publicly making a stupid statement, confirming that Government won’t respond to questionnaires as if the stories won’t be published just because the “accused person decided not to respond”.

Mbongeni Mbingo is empty-headed it’s just that, he was able to climb the ladder by allegedly sleeping with Inkhosikati LaMbikiza who then assisted him to manoeuvre within the Tinkhundla system of governance for personal gain.

PM Russell Dlamini is now struggling to clarify stories because he hanged himself with a political rope after receiving misleading advice from the Swazi Observer editor.

Accusing Cabinet Ministers of leaking information won’t help the PM, as the Head of Government, he must subscribe to the principles of transparency and accountability.

On Wednesday, I was receiving calls from journalists of the South African Broadcasting Corporation(SABC) and other international journalists enquiring if King Mswati is fine and I told them that he will be attending the Correctional Services Day on Friday, this was after I contacted his Spokesperson Percy Simelane to verify information.

It should be noted that, Percy Simelane’s response avoided the dissemination of inaccurate and unconfirmed information about the King by the international media, King Mswati proved to be clever than Russell by directing his Spokesperson to respond, there’s absolutely no way a politician could hold public office and then respond to the media as his/her own discretion.

The PM and editor Mbongeni Mbingo must continue to hang themselves with their political rope and let’s see where will this take them but, one of their most stupid ally Government Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo fell from political power while saying; “we won’t respond to a terrorist”.

Political power is subject to transparency and accountability and if you don’t respond, the public will digest the information at their disposal and then, judge you based on that information until you clarify the issues.