King of poverty-stricken African nation buys 19 Rolls Royces worth Rs. 175 crores for ‘his wives’ [Video

Mswati III – the King of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and head of the Swazi Royal Family – has just splurged around Rs. 175 crores (USD 24.4 million) to buy 19 Rolls Royce super luxury saloons for his 15 wives. A Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV, specially customized for himself, was among the 19 Rolls Royces the African king of the poverty stricken nation bought.

HEARTBREAKING NEWS: Amidst all the economic challenges eSwazitini, King Mswati III yesterday decided to bless his wives with very expensive wheels 2 pic.twitter.com/2g9P7Z32OW

— Mzilikazi wa Afrika (@IamMzilikazi) October 30, 2019

The king has also reportedly ordered 120 BMW sedans and SUVs for use by the Swazi Royal Family, which includes 23 of his children. The Rolls Royces and BMWs have now expanded the King Mswati III’s already impressive luxury car garage that consists of 20 Mercedes Maybach Pullmans, a Maybach 62 and a BMW X6. The king also owns a couple of private jets for his personal use. All these vehicles not only cost a lot to buy initially but are also very expensive to maintain. Such a large fleet of Rolls Royces, Maybachs and BMWs will need a dedicated service facility.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that it was 4 trucks loaded with 20 Rolls Royce and one Rolls Royce Cullinan pic.twitter.com/lgQSpdurmY

— Mzilikazi wa Afrika (@IamMzilikazi) October 30, 2019

Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) is a land locked country in between South Africa and Mozambique. The king’s latest car buying spree has evoked sharp criticism from the opposition party of Eswatini. People’s United Democratic Movement – opposition party general secretary Wandile Dludlu, had this to say about the king’s car splurge,

Last week (early November), a total of 19 Rolls-Royce cars were delivered to Swaziland for the exclusive use of the king, his mother and his wives. To say this is a blatant display of arrogance and total disregard of the poor people of Swaziland’s feelings by the monarch would be an understatement. As a party we are least concerned about how many wives and children he has. The big issue is that the national purse has to take care of someone’s children when ordinarily in modern politics there is supposed to be a separation between his private resources and the public purse. The Swazi political system is meant to serve the monarchy and its cronies, not the people. 

HEARTBREAKING NEWS: Amidst all the economic challenges eSwazitini, King Mswati III yesterday decided to bless his wives with very expensive wheels pic.twitter.com/QzGTT1uvfC

— Mzilikazi wa Afrika (@IamMzilikazi) October 30, 2019

Prime Minister of Eswatini, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, has justified the purchase of the Rolls Royces and BMWs, stating that it confirmed to the official policy of the kingdom, where the King’s vehicles older than 5 years, had to be replaced with new ones. 63 percent of the people in Eswatini live below the poverty line, and this indicates that the country is very poor, and needs resources to fight hunger and disease. The kingdom is said to be facing civil unrest due to worsening economic conditions and collapse of many government institutions.