Africa-Press – Eswatini. Nhlangano based police officers holding the rank of constable have asked the Prime Minister, Russell Dlamini, to intervene in their delayed promotions.
The police officers, who asked to speak anonymously, stated that it was saddening to serve the country and it’s citizens diligently, risking their lives but without being recognised. They stated that they worked hard, with commitment, only to find that their efforts were not considered by their employer. According to the police officers, all those who were constables had not been promoted on three consecutive times. First, they said it was in the month of April 2022, as well as this year in October. They were also allegedly overlooked in the recent promotions that were announced five days ago.
“We are the very same police officers who saved the main Shiselweni town during the unrest. Some got injured in the process. We protected Mbangweni Royal Residence, we are on the ground on a daily basis,” remarked one of them. They shared that they were the ones who worked tirelessly during the Shiselweni Reed Dance and any other activities in the region, but none had been promoted since last year. They shared that Nhlangano reported a lot of murder cases that they attended to and always strived to make breakthroughs in investigations, but they were not recognised. This, they said, also included the Traffic Department as it was always active on the roads, preventing accidents, but they were all allegedly overlooked.
The officers further shared that what was painful to them was that during promotions, there were police officers based in other stations like Gege, Hluti and the Regional Headquarters (RHQ), who were promoted as though they were from Nhlangano Police Station, yet this was not the case. “In the recent promotions, only the station commander and two of his senior officers were elevated, yet they were already senior and received better pay cheques,” added another police officer. They mentioned that they were requesting the intervention of the newly appointed prime minister as minister responsible for police because their superiors in Mbabane allegedly did not care about what was happening in their station.
Transferred
The officers shared that at this point, they preferred to be transferred to other stations if their efforts were not recognised, adding that they would shine in other stations and be considered for promotions. The officers mentioned that they were aware that they were going to be asked to speak openly about their grievances. They said they would not, as they would be victimised. When the Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni was called for a comment, she said such issues were administrative, adding that they were not going to discuss them with the media. She said police officers knew that if they had grievances, they had to report to the relevant structures.
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