MPS STRONGLY ADVISE PM TO URGENTLY PAY JUNIOR OFFICERS

MBABANE – Members of Parliament (MPs) have warned government to make the junior security officers’ Phase II exercise implementation its first item on the list of priorities.

House of Assembly business yesterday was kicked off by a statement from the Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, which addressed the issue of salary restructuring for junior officers in the security forces. The PM said government was alive to the officers’ concerns, resulting in the manner in which an earlier restructuring exercise was implemented wherein he said the concerns were understandable and as government they realised that it had taken too long to have the matter resolved.

He shared through the statement that government has had a number of meetings with security forces chiefs and staff associations to discuss this matter in the past and apparently no amicable agreement has been reached yet, save to say engagements were still ongoing. “Government wants to assure this House and all concerned that government is dealing with this matter with a view to finding a lasting solution,” he submitted. However, MPs did not find the statement to be addressing the matter in any way as a majority of the legislators called on the PM to urgently make funds available to implement the Phase II salary restructuring exercise. Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo wondered who was setting the junior officers against their seniors by implementing the Phase I of the salary restructuring, which only the latter benefitted and the answer to that pointed to government.

Grievances

That was after he appreciated the junior officers for applying a high level of respect when marching to Cabinet to express their grievances.
“Time for talking is up, government should do the right thing in this matter and the only thing is simply to give the junior officers what is due to them. When government says it is working on the matter, it should not be on paper but it should be practical and we should see the results,” he submitted.
Khumalo shared that the ‘current occurrences in the country were signs that we were failing as a country yet we are the face of peace and preach the same gospel’.

The legislator also shared that funding for the Phase II restructuring was announced in Parliament and he wondered what happened to that funding which was at the tune of E65 million. Methula MP Derrick Masuku said it was not just the salary implementation that was a thorny issue to the junior officers as some stations did not have enough cars or none at all and sometimes they had to dig deep into their own pockets to refuel the cars and attend to emergencies due to shortage of fuel at government depots. He suggested that government should convene a meeting with the junior officers and give them specific timelines on when Phase II would be implemented to restore harmony among the security forces.

Manzini South MP Thandi Nxumalo emphasised that the PM should do the right thing as these were their relatives who had plenty responsibilities that needed money. “We believe Cabinet (is made up of) people who have integrity and are loyal but they have a funny way of showing it. They will tell you that an issue is being addressed but after a long while, they will come back with the same feedback and one wonders what it is that they were doing to help the situation all along. It is simple, just pay the junior officers,” she submitted. Ludzeludze MP Vusi Swali said this was an old issue that dates back to 2014 but it was boggling the mind that the high ranking officers had benefited from the exercise while the junior officers were sidelined.
“Half of the police service members were part of those who petitioned the PM and that is a serious threat to national security. If anything, they should all have not benefitted from the exercise than having one party in the same service being prioritised while others are lamenting over the same issue,” he said.

Swali shared that they were expecting the PM to engage the aggrieved officers because those were his children as the Minister of Police but he decried the manner in which the matter was handled. Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini said government should refrain from the approach of frightening people with apprehending them. He shared that in industrial relations, when people bring issues the wrong way, the relevant people should deal with the issue first then correct the wrong way the issue was brought, rather than totally ignoring the issue and throwing it out of the window.

“The culture of putting arrests forward won’t help any situation but people should be heard and treated with respect, that is the right and only remedy we need as a country right now,” he said. In his response, the PM said as much as MPs felt government should make an instant payment to the junior officers, these issues were informed by the availability of funds and it entails that there should be engagements with relevant stakeholders to deal with issues decisively. On the issue of the E65 million that the MPs said was announced by the minister of Finance, the PM said this money was for appeals that were made during the 2016 salary review exercise and it was for all civil servants, not just the security forces.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: