PROBE GUNS THEFT, CORRUPTION IN ARMY – SOME SOLDIERS

MBABANE – Some soldiers are demanding an inquiry into supposedly stolen guns among a number of corrupt acts in the army.

The disgruntled members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) have made allegations that there were a variety of corrupt acts that were not dealt with. The members of the army purported that there were a number of concerns that had been raised with the defence force headquarters wherein claims of corruption were made through anonymity. Among the claims of the uncouth conduct within the UEDF, the army personnel alleged that there were guns that disappeared at Phocweni Army Barracks and were later discovered at a senior officer’s residence.

They supposed that after they were found in the residence of the senior soldier, nothing significant happened. They further claimed that in June 2021, when there was the political unrest in the kingdom, ammunition and some guns disappeared at Mdzimba Barracks. They claimed that these were not their only concerns as there were senior officers who allegedly took their food rations at the various barracks for personal gain and were not punished. The officers claimed that this concern could not be raised within the barracks as some of the people involved could make their lives miserable. The military men claimed that due to the alleged stolen food, they were left starving at times; mostly on weekends.

Barracks

They further alleged that money raised from the canteens was not beneficial to them yet they were made to believe that it should cater for the various barracks’ needs. Worse, they claimed, was that despite the partial ban imposed by government on the sale of alcohol, now only on weekends, many barracks continued to sell alcohol with some senior soldiers even allegedly using UEDF vehicles to collect the beverages along informal crossings. They claimed that the money generated by the canteens during this period was used for personal gain by the senior soldiers, who had access to the coffers of the canteens and it did not buy them food or basic necessities needed at the barracks. Worth noting is that last year, the sale of alcohol was suspended by government as means to deal with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. This was from March 2020 until September 2020.

It was alleged that there were also issues of abuse that were ongoing within the UEDF in that junior officers were being ordered to run personal errands for their supervisors, including transporting their acquaintances with vehicles belonging to the army.
Furthermore, in the allegations of corruption, the soldiers claimed that there were issues that the media had published depicting the corruption in the army. Recently, this publication reported that despite that government resources were strained, a senior army officer was chauffeured and ‘escorted’ to a shebeen, almost on a daily basis. The senior army officer was chauffeured in a white Toyota Etios sedan and escorted by an army green Toyota Hilux single cab bakkie. Both vehicles had UEDF registrations, which were S 297 and S 219 respectively. The UEDF senior official is based at one of the army bases in Matsapha. Despite the exposé, the soldiers claimed nothing productive was derived as it was relayed that investigations were ongoing. The army personnel claimed that whenever they were aggrieved with acts of corruption, they reported them, but nothing came to fruition.

They claimed that there were army personnel who were allegedly making loads of money by stealing pharmaceuticals at some of the UEDF medical facilities. This, they claimed, was known but minimal action had been taken. In this instance, they claimed that there were two male soldiers who were allegedly caught red-handed stealing drugs from the military medical clinic at Phocweni Army Barracks.

Syndicate

They said the pair were a fraction of a syndicate and the senior personnel involved were allegedly still engaging in the same illicit activities. Also, the aggrieved soldiers alleged that jobs and promotions were sold in the army. They supposed that the people who were behind the selling of jobs were never punished; instead, they were reshuffled to other barracks. Worth noting is that in 2017, during the last recruitment exercise in the UEDF, about 40 recruits were expelled from the military infantry school based at Mbuluzi Army Barracks. This resulted in over 100 more finding their way into the army. It was gathered that during the investigations, some of the expelled recruits confessed that they paid amounts ranging between E40 000 and E55 000 in order to be recruited into the military. Anomalies were discovered following the complaints that were filed by constituencies, which felt that the exercise did not go well at their communities and the army appointed a team to investigate the complaints.

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