Swaziland: The King’s Constitution

This report analyzes the draft national constitution of Swaziland unveiled by King Mswati III on 31 May 2003. While the draft introduces some legal reforms and human rights acknowledgments, it maintains the monarchy's absolute power and fails to address the legal status of banned political parties.

• The draft constitution unveiled on 31 May 2003 preserves the monarchy's central authority, ensuring the King remains the head of the executive and retains the power to appoint the prime minister, cabinet, chiefs, and judges. No bill passed by parliament can become law without his approval, and he retains the power to dissolve parliament at any time.
• The draft constitution introduces specific legal and social changes, including the removal of the King's ability to rule by decree and the replacement of the Court of Appeal with a Supreme Court. It also ends the legal minority status of Swazi women and recognizes the need for special attention for children and the disabled.
• Despite a guarantee of "freedom of assembly and association" in the Bill of Rights, the draft constitution does not specifically mention or legalize political parties, which have been banned since 12 April 1973.
• The legislative structure under the draft includes a 30-member Senate, where the King appoints 20 members (eight of whom must be women). The remaining 10 members (five of whom must be women) are appointed by a 76-member House of Assembly, consisting of 60 elected members, 10 royal appointees, and six special women members.
• The monarchy has a history of interfering with judicial independence, evidenced by the resignation of Court of Appeal judges on 30 November 2002 and the forced resignation of the Chief Justice of the High Court. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) reported that attacks on the judiciary by the executive are "deeply rooted and routine in Swaziland".
• Pro-democracy and progressive movements, including the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC), Peoples United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), and the Swaziland Youth Congress, have formed the Swaziland Democratic Alliance (SDA) to advocate for a constitutional monarchy. Many of these groups rejected the 2003 parliamentary elections to avoid validating the draft constitution.

APA

Maroleng, C. (2003). Swaziland: The King’s Constitution. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SWAZIJUN03.PDF

Chicago

Maroleng, Chris. Swaziland: The King’s Constitution. Institute for Security Studies, 2003. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SWAZIJUN03.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Maroleng |first1=Chris |title=Swaziland: The King’s Constitution |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=26 June 2003 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SWAZIJUN03.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{maroleng2003swaziland, author = {Maroleng, Chris}, title = {{Swaziland: The King’s Constitution}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2003}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SWAZIJUN03.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }