The\ngovernment of eSwatini on Tuesday angrily denied viral online reports that King\nMswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch who has 14 wives, had ordered men to\nhave at least two marriages or face jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nstory, carried by the Zambian Observer and picked up by several other online\npublications, said that Swazi men would have to marry several wives starting\nfrom June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nwell as 14 wives, King Mswati has more than 25 children and a reputation for\nlavish spending while 63 percent of his 1.3 million subjects in the kingdom\nformerly known as Swaziland live in poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nstory, first published on Monday, said the government would sponsor marriage\nceremonies and offer houses to men who entered into polygamous marriages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nsaid the king “has declared in… Swaziland that men will from June 2019\nbe required to marry at least two or more wives or be jailed if they fail to do\nso”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government\nspokesman Percy Simelane called the story “malicious” and\n“poisonous”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“His\nMajesty has not made any pronouncement to that effect as it has never been an\nissue raised,” by the people, Simelane said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nsaid the story was “not only an insult to the monarchy and the culture of\neSwatini but a disgrace to journalism”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government has demanded that the newspaper retract its story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AFP<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government of eSwatini on Tuesday angrily denied viral online reports that King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch who has 14 wives, had ordered men to have at least two marriages or face jail. The story, carried by the Zambian Observer and picked up by several other online publications, said that Swazi men would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":9427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n