Where next? Swaziland next?

From the sandy deserts of Libya and Egypt, our search for examples of misrule in Africa takes us south, way way south, to the remote mountain kingdom of Swaziland.

Wedged in between Moçambique and South Africa, it is a desperately poor little place, with a population of only 1,4 million. 40% of Swazis are unemployed. 70% live on less than $1 a day.

Swaziland has two things that set it apart. It is ruled by King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch. And it is the site of the annual "Reed Dance" in which His Highness chooses a new wife -- he has 14, at last count -- from amongst hundreds of nubile young maidens.

Now the winds of change are blowing even in that remote corner of the Dark Continent. Perhaps inspired by the "Arab Spring" and this week's overthrow of Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo (even though he had only one wife), protesters are thronging the streets of Mbabane demanding political reforms.

Speaking for King Mswati, who was otherwise engaged, Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini declared the demonstrations illegal and warned that anyone who took part did so at their own risk.

Police Commissioner Isaac Magagula said the police, the army and prison services were ready to face down “evil” protesters. “Such evil will not be tolerated,” he told the local Times newspaper.

Another spokesman for the king cautioned a western journalist that [the protesters] "only want His Highness to share some of his wives. But that is not necessary. Plenty of girls here. See for yourself next reed dance."