VOTER REGISTRATION: E250 DAILY PAY RATE FOR COPS, WARDERS

MANZINI – Security personnel assigned to voter registration centres will be paid at a daily rate of E250 each for overseeing these centres.

Currently assisting in ensuring that there are no elements of crime at the voter registration stations are personnel from His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) and the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). There are said to be over 470 voter registration centres countrywide, wherein these officers are deployed. According to sources, places which were deemed hotspots at the height of the political unrest have been beefed up with more security personnel to suppress any possible threat that may occur. The sources claimed that such areas had over 10 security personnel, while those which were not deemed a threat had a limited number of security personnel.

Rotate

It has been gathered that the security personnel from the various duty stations shall rotate the shifts at the voter registration centres, such that a majority of them benefit from the E250 per day. It is worth noting that in the 2018 national elections, personnel from the State security forces were awarded the same amount to render their services. During the registration stage in 2018, about 3 080 officers were paid E35 866 650. A majority of these officers were security personnel, who were 1 218 and they were paid E250 per day for 42 days. Also, in this stage, there were registration clerks who also received the same amount over 47 days. Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Communications Officer Mbonisi Bhembe confirmed that the security personnel would be awarded a ‘token of appreciation’ for their services.

Bhembe, however, requested not to divulge the amount to be offered to each officer. He said the monetary terms of the agreement were between two entities and it would not be proper to divulge them. Furthermore, he confirmed that there were over 400 voter registration stations. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that during the national elections in 2018, the EBC paid just over 9 000 officers who were engaged from the nomination stage until the secondary elections.

Engaged

The bulk of the officers were polling officers who stood at 6 760. The polling officers were engaged for about 15 days at a daily rate of E250. The total amount budgeted for the polling officers stood at E25.3 million. The EBC further engaged the services of about 66 returning officers, who for 45 days were paid at a daily rate of E450, while the 441 presiding officers were remunerated E350 per day. The commission had engaged 150 drivers for the elections. There were 132 heavy duty truck and bus drivers who were paid at a rate of E350 per day for six days. The EBC also engaged about 12 of its own drivers at a rate of E250 per day, and additional ones also at the same pay rate. For the post elections, a total of 11 EBC drivers were engaged, also at a rate of E250 per day.

Leading to the secondary elections in 2018, the EBC had already paid out about E35 million in personnel costs. This means that in 2018, the registration process had a cumulative remuneration to personnel of E35 million. For the elections, the EBC had set aside E85 million for personnel costs. The bulk of the money was paid out to the officers who were hired for the nominations. On the other hand, the primary and the secondary elections stages had personnel costs of about E39 525 250. The highest paid were the returning officers, accountants, human resources and legal advisor, who were remunerated a daily rate of E450.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: