COPS BLAME UNREST, BAD PUBLICITY FOR LOSING ELECTIONS

MBABANE – It is ‘back to work’ for at least 30 police officers who had earlier shown interest in participating in the primary elections as they lost.

About 39 police officers had written to the National Commissioner (NATCOM) of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), William Tsitsibala Dlamini, requesting time off from work so that they could participate in the elections. This is according to an earlier report by this publication. The police officers, including about four women were from various bases around the country. It was gathered that less than 10 police officers managed to win.

However, it has now emerged that out of the 39 who had participated in the general elections,  at least 30 of them did not make it.  Unlike other democracies whereby political parties register candidates to stand for elections, in Eswatini, candidates are first nominated as individuals who then are elected in two phases beginning at primary elections and then followed by secondary elections.

Confirmed

Dumisile Khumalo, who is the Secretary General (SG) of the Police Staff Association confirmed that very few officers had made it beyond the primary elections, which were held last Saturday. She said she could only remember only three who had made it and that she did not have the exact figures of how many made it. She noted that among those who had made it was Sicelo Dlamini, popularly known as Khunga Nkosi. Dlamini was elected under Mayiwane Inkhundla at Herefords. Superintendent Themba Simelane, who had been nominated at Herefords, however, did not make it beyond the primary elections.

Khumalo said in her view, police officers suffered bad publicity due to the political unrest. Since 2021, the country had experienced a political unrest, which resulted in the destruction of property. It was also reported that over 10 police officers had been shot dead during unrest. Emergencies
The unrest resulted in police officers living in fear such that even during emergencies, they would fail to respond in fear that they would be targeted by unknown people.

Khumalo, who had been nominated under Mafutseni Inkhundla was among the majority of police officers who were unsuccessful. She said police officers were of the view that the unrest contributed largely to their failure.  Khumalo said the unrest had turned the public against police officers such that during the elections, they were seen as enemies of the people. She revealed that in her case, the unrest was used as a smear campaign to let her down and appear too irrelevant to the aspirations of the electorate.

Khumalo said she was accused of being among the people who participated in burning structures such as schools and police stations. She said it was such untrue messages that were used to let her down. However, she also revealed that after she had lost her race to parliament, some residents of Mafutseni confided in her that they had lost a good candidate. She said it was only after the elections that some of the voters realised that they had lost out as she had good plans.

More police officers also shared similar concerns regarding Khumalo’s bad publicity due to the unrest. They said some police officers were afraid to even solicit for votes like their competitors because of fear of being criticised and also blamed for the unrest deaths. Meanwhile, it is not the first time police officers participated in elections though this time, the number is said to have increased. Some of the former police officers who ended up becoming Members of Parliant (MPs) in the past include Cruiser Ngcamphalala, who is the outgoing Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development. Others include MPs Robert Magongo and Frans Dlamini.

Participated

Also, it was not only police officers who had participated the primary elections but also other members of the security forces such as members of His Majesty’s Correctional Service (HMCS) and Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF). Sicelo Dlamini, who was elected at Mayiwane for the MP position was also called for comment but he said he could not comment on the matter. Dlamini is a police officer based at Tshaneni Police Station and he was transferred from Pigg’s Peak. In addition, Dlamini is also associated with First Action Security Service. He is popularly referred to as KhungaNkosi, a name also associated with the security company. It is a name derived from his wife’s praise name (Khunga) and that of his surname (Nkosi). Some members of the electorate, however, expressed excitement that only a handful of police officers made it.

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