SOME COPS IRKED BY ARSON ATTACK DONATIONS FOR COLLEAGUES

MANZINI – It is not all the time that a call to show an act of kindness is accepted by all.

Some police officers are irate as they have been asked to donate money towards their colleagues who lost their possessions during arson attacks. The police officers who have been asked to make contributions towards 10 of their colleagues are in the Manzini Region. A communiqué from the Manzini Regional Headquarters dated January 17,  2022, was sent to eight police stations seeking that officers working in them should partake in the aforementioned exercise. The police stations that were addressed in the communication were: Manzini, Matsapha, Malkerns, Mafutseni, Mankayane, Mliba, Bhunya and Sidvokodvo.

Commissioner

The message was said to be information from the National Commissioner of Police (NATCOM), William Dlamini, and it was from the Regional Police in Manzini with a reference M/57/2/IV/10. In the communique, the police were requested to make donations varying between E50 and E450. The donation has been set at E50 for constables, E100 for sergeants, E150 for assistant inspectors, E200 for inspectors, E250 for assistant superintendents, E300 for superintendents, E350 for senior superintendents while the one for assistant commissioner of police has been set at E400. It was communicated to the police officers that the donations requested from them per their ranks were found to be ideal and not mandatory and that contributions made out of goodwill would be greatly appreciated.

Also, it was said for purposes of convenience, contributions had been spread over two months, being February and March 2022. The information shared with the police stations requested that commanding officers should submit to the Manzini Regional Headquarters (RHQ) that which would have been contributed by the officers by end of March 2022. The communiqué to the police stations was titled ‘Re: Contribution towards officers who lost their properties consequent to arson attacks’. It appealed to the officers by quoting Princess Diana – ‘carry out an act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you’. It reminded officers that on June 29, 2021, the country experienced sporadic and or spontaneous protests actions or marches across the country. “These actions culminated in acts of vandalism and pure criminality, leaving a trail of destruction in almost all the four regions of the country. Pursuant to police intervention or in response thereof against this insurgency, police officers, their immediate families, extending to their relatives, were threatened with acts of violence and attacks on their persons,” reads the message in part.

It stated that these threats or acts of violence manifested themselves in the form of arson attacks and the most affected were officers from Matsapha Police Station. The communiqué stated that a collective number of 10 officers suffered and as a result thereof, their properties were reduced to ashes. Subsequent to this, the RHQ communicated that it had been enjoined by officers from around the region to look at suitable ways in which the affected officers’ situation could be ameliorated.

proposal

“To this end and having looked and given thought to this proposal, it has been found to be in good standing that financial contributions towards this noble act of kindness and noble cause would be in good order,” it was stated. Following this, some officers expressed their discontent in the strongest terms as they wondered what was stopping the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) from seeking assistance from the Reconstruction fund. It is worth noting that the Reconstruction Fund was formed to assist businesses that were damaged during the civil unrest and these entities can receive partial compensation grants of up to 60 per cent, which is not repayable.

On the other hand, they said police officers were under the Office of the Prime Minister (PM) and the leadership of the organisation could approach him and state the challenges.
The officers raised concerns that they were easily requested to fund themselves despite that they were yet to benefit from the salary restructuring exercise as announced in July 2014 by the Ministry of Public Service, through the issuance of Circular No.2 of 2014. Officers from the REPS have constantly raised their concerns over the issue. In light of this challenge, some of the officers claimed that they did not have money and could not afford to make contributions. Instead, they insisted that their welfare should be catered for by the employer as the damages they suffered occurred while they were engaging in the scope of their duties.

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