The Swaziland Government spent about E5.9 million (US$600,000) on the official opening of the King Mswati III International Airport, it has just been revealed.
At the same time, at least 36 children have died from diarrhoea and more than 500 have been hospitalised after the government said it did not have money to pay for available rotavirus vaccines.
Had the US$600,000 been spent on the children, the government could have bought at least 93,000 vials of vaccine, enough for about 46,000 children.
The airport, formerly known as Sikhuphe, was opened on 7 March 2014, but to date no airline has used it. It has been widely criticised outside of Swaziland as a vanity project for King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as an absolute monarch.
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