[ad_1]
JOHANNESBURG: The prime minister of Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, died in a South African hospital on Sunday (December 13) after contracting coronavirus, the government said in a statement.
Ambrose Dlamini, 52, had been hospitalized in neighboring South Africa in early December, two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19.
“Their Majesties have ordered that I inform the nation of the sad and untimely passing of His Excellency Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini,” said Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku.
The prime minister “passed away this afternoon while under medical care in a South African hospital,” he added, without detailing the cause of Dlamini’s death.
Dlamini had announced in mid-November that he had tested positive for coronavirus, but said he was feeling fine and was asymptomatic.
Dlamini, a businessman but political novice, was appointed prime minister in October 2018.
The role of the head of government is limited in Eswatini, where the current king, in power since 1986, appoints all ministers and controls the parliament.
Formerly known as Swaziland, the kingdom of Eswatini has reported more than 6,700 coronavirus cases and 127 deaths among its population of 1.2 million people.
A South African-based civil society group, the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), accused the government of giving the prime minister special treatment by moving him to a country with better healthcare.
More than 39 percent of the population of the small landlocked country lived below the poverty line in 2016 and 2017, according to the World Bank.
