Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini

Who is Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini?

Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini is the Prime Minister of Swaziland. He was Prime Minister from 1996 to 2003 and has held the position again from October 2008. He has now been appointed for the third time in the ninth parliament Dlamini was Minister of Finance from 1984 to 1993. He was also an executive director of the International Monetary Fund. From 1996 to 2003, he was Prime Minister, and in 2003 he became a member of King Mswati III's advisory council. Dlamini was a candidate, backed by the Swazi government, for the position of Chairperson of the African Union Commission in early 2008. The government withdrew his candidacy out of solidarity with the Southern African Development Community so that SADC could present a single candidate.

Following the September 2008 parliamentary election, Dlamini was reappointed as Prime Minister by Mswati III on 16 October 2008. Jan Sithole, the Secretary-General of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, was critical of the appointment, saying that Dlamini worked to "suppress political organisations and advance the strong rule of the monarchy" during his earlier period as Prime Minister; he also accused Dlamini of "strong-hand tactics and lack of respect for the rule of law". Opposition leader Mario Masuku, the President of the People's United Democratic Movement, said that Dlamini "was not appointed on merit but on his level of allegiance to the king". Dlamini was sworn in by Chief Justice Richard Banda on 23 October 2008. He took the oath of office both in English and in SiSwati.