A Swaziland chief banned women from wearing miniskirts and trousers at a two-day nomination process that got under way Saturday to select candidates for upcoming elections.

"I told the residents recently, that tomorrow they should dress properly, decently in line with our culture to show respect," Prince Mashila of Maphalaleni, a chiefdom about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mbabane.

Kissing in one town in the kingdom of Swaziland could now land you in a bit of trouble.

Love birds locked in spasms of romance in the town of Siteki have been forewarned: their amorous embrace may cost them a $12 fine.

Swaziland is poor in resources, so King Mswati III is courting investors with his kingdom's vast cultural traditions as he tries to lift the nation out of an economic crisis.

Every year the nation's international trade fair coincides with the famous reed dance, a massive showcase of local culture in which tens of thousands of young women swarm across the kingdom to dance bare-breasted in beaded mini-skirts and colorful pompoms for the king at his royal palace.