Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku (born 7 July 1950) is a Swazi politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

since 2018 and as Acting Prime Minister from 13 December 2020 to 16 July 2021. Earlier, he served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 until 2013.

Early life

Masuku was born on 7 July 1950. He received his Master of Science degree from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Career

In the 1990s, he filled various posts in the government of Swaziland, including Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Minister for Economic Planning and Development, and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1996 to 1998. He then worked with the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, as director of the liaison offices in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

and later New York. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in 2008 by King Mswati III and served in that position until 2013, when he became the regional administrator for the Shiselweni district. Masuku returned to his position as Deputy Prime Minister when Prime Minister

Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini (5 March 1968 – 13 December 2020) was a Swazi business executive who served as the tenth prime minister of Eswatini, holding the office from October 2018 until his death on 13 December 2020. Born in Eswatini's Manzini ...

presented his cabinet in November 2018. He became acting prime minister after Dlamini's death on 13 December 2020. According to the

Constitution of Eswatini The 2005 constitution is currently in force. The constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended 12 April 1973 by a State of Emergency decree imposed by King Sobhuza II, the father of the current King Mswati III. The decree gave absolute power to ...

, Themba Masuku was supposed to serve as Acting Prime Minister for a maximum period of three months. In June and July 2021, amidst police and army brutality, Masuku was criticized for his handling of the

2021 Eswatini Protests 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

against the monarchy. In a sibaya on 16 July 2021, King Mswati replaced Masuku with Cleopas Dlamini as the new prime minister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masuku, Themba N. 1950 births Prime Ministers of Eswatini Deputy Prime ministers of Eswatini Agriculture ministers of Eswatini Finance Ministers of Eswatini Food ministers of Eswatini Planning ministers of Eswatini Food and Agriculture Organization officials Living people Swazi officials of the United Nations Swazi politicians University of Missouri alumni