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Article

2 Jan 2012

Author:
David Smith, Guardian [UK]

Coca-Cola accused of propping up notorious Swaziland dictator

Coca-Cola has been accused of propping up one of Africa's most notorious dictators. The…beverage company owns a concentrate-manufacturing plant in Swaziland, an impoverished kingdom ruled by Africa's last absolute monarch, Mswati III…[A]ctivists…blame him for human rights abuses and looting the nation's wealth. Mary Pais Da Silva, co-ordinator of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign, called for Coca-Cola to pull out of the country immediately. "Coca-Cola must know they're doing business with the wrong people,"…Coca-Cola…admits it cannot account for how the money it pays in taxes is used by the Swazi government…Sherree Shereni, spokeswoman for the Coca-Cola central Africa franchise, said:…"TCCC, like any other taxpayer, does not determine what the taxes paid to the governments of countries in which it does business are used for. This is the statutory prerogative of the governments themselves." She added: "Coca-Cola is not involved with political agenda of any country in which it does business…"