PUBLICISE LIST OF 100 FIRE RECRUITS - MP WELCOME

LOBAMBA – The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has been challenged to publicise the list of the 100 firefighter recruits, if it is confident that the recruitment process was fair and transparent.

The challenge was made by Mbabane East Member of Parliament (MP) Welcome Dlamini yesterday, when the ministry appeared before the House of Assembly Portfolio Committee.
The MP spoke after some legislators raised concerns about the recent recruitment by the Eswatini National Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services (ENFRES). Minister Appolo Maphalala in his preamble, told the MPs that the service received 14 000 applications during the recruitment exercise, while only 100 ended up being successful. The MPs raised concerns about the unemployment of young people in the country and wondered where the 13 900 unsuccessful candidates were. The MPs also highlighted that there was a lot of controversy surrounding the recruitment process. They mentioned that there were allegations that some of the people who were recruited never went through the mandatory stages of the recruitment while people who claimed to have been through all the stages were left behind. They claimed that those who eventually made it were related or connected to influential people.

The Mbabane East MP said if the ministry strongly felt and believed that the recruitment was above board, the list of the 100 recruits should be made public. He said if the list was made public, the aggrieved emaSwati would have the opportunity to scrutinise the names. “Minister, the fire recruitment was not above board and people are still complaining as we speak. Some believe they should have been among the recruits, yet you maintain that the process was fair. If you feel the process was fair and transparent, can the ENFRES publicise the list of the recruits, all 100 of them, so that it can stop this alleged corruption. Word on the street is that only influential people’s children were selected and those who went through the entire process were left out. For transparency and confidence, publicise the list so we can see who are they and determine whether they deserve to be there,” he said.

Lugongolweni MP Joseph Souza said the exercise seemed to have been centred between the Manzini and Mbabane corridor. The MP said for transparency and fair representation, the ENFRES recruitment should emulate the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) structure, which visits all four regions and every winner at inkhundla or region was selected. He expressed belief that if the fire recruitment could follow that process, there would be fair representation within the service. The MPs also urged the ministry to expand fire services to every town in the country, as their stations were too scattered and firefighters were struggling to reach scenes on time. Sigwe MP David Ngcamphalala mentioned that the country had a serious need for more fire stations. He recalled that two years ago, when his home was gutted by fire, during the unrest, firefighters took long to respond and the reason was because the fire station was very far.

He urged the minister to ensure that his budget catered for the building of more fire stations, which would also create employment for the 13 900 who were unsuccessful during the recent recruitment exercise. During the debate, the MP referenced the minister’s report that the ministry recorded E52 million under-expenditure on personnel cost, because there were not enough personnel to utilise it. The MPs wondered why the ministry was not hiring more fire personnel, because the budget was there. Matsanjeni South MP Sabelo Ndlangamandla asked how a whole ministry would have an under-expenditure, while the country was battling financially, such as drugs shortage, apart from employment. The MP said those funds should have been rechannelled to the Ministry of Health to solve the drug crisis. Mtsambama MP Sibongile Mamba said she was not pleased to learn that the ministry’s budget was reduced by E20 million. The MP said local government would continue to have challenges when the ministry’s budget was reduced by huge amounts. The minister asked the MPs to approve the ministry’s E443 177 674 recurrent budget and E51 200 000 capital expenditure.

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