King Mswati signed into law a new national constitution on Tuesday at a ceremony held in the royal kraal at Ludzidzini, the traditional setting for important national announcements. "I am here to bless the nation's constitution," Mswati told a crowd of about 5,000 Swazis gathered inside the large cattle enclosure.
After a nine-year gestation period, the new constitution does not fundamentally alter Swaziland's system of governance: ultimate power will remain in the hands of the Swazi king, putting a constitutional seal on a 1973 decree by Mswati's father, King Sobhuza, which overturned the constitution bequeathed by the British in 1968. |