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Article: Swaziland mother battles king over daughter.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- October 29, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Laurie Goering
MBABANE, Swaziland _ King Mswati III, Africa's last ruling monarch, has nine wives and absolute power in this fairytale mountain kingdom.
"The truth is His Majesty is not above the law. His Majesty is the law," said Phesheya Dlamini, the attorney general of Swaziland.
But the young, cape-clad monarch's tight rein on his kingdom, and Swazi tradition itself, is facing a challenge this month from an unlikely adversary: A single mother who objects to the man known as Swaziland's Ngwenyama, or lion, laying his paws on her only daughter.
Each September, thousands of the kingdom's teenage girls, clad only in jewelry ...