400 MORE SOLDIERS GRADUATE

MBABANE – Over 400 more recruits were trained since July 2013, despite the army announcing it would recruit only 300 people countrywide.
In July 2013, Lieutenant General, Sobantu Dlamini, announced that recruitment would take place in the various constituencies.

Dlamini is Commander of Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF).
It has now emerged that in addition to the 300 who were recruited last year, over 400 were later handpicked.
About 300 people were recruited from the 55 Tinkhundla centres (constituencies) during a recruitment process in which hopeful soldiers had to run a 3.2km distance.
Only the four best in each constituency stood a chance of being recruited.

However, the Times SUNDAY noted that Major Madoda Mkhatshwa, the USDF Public Relations Officer (PRO), announced last week that over 700 recruits were to graduate during Friday’s pass-out.
He has since confirmed that the final number was more than double the original figure announced by the army.
Mkhatshwa said some of the recruits were handpicked for various reasons.

He said there was nothing wrong with army’s selection process as it was the norm in many other countries.
Mkhatshwa said this was not corruption but authorities of any State had the prerogative to design the composition and posture of their army.
He said leaders were privy to information some members of the armed forces or citizens did not have.

Mkhatshwa said it was also not necessary for the army to be accountable to the general populace.
He said revealing information relating to security practices was a very serious offence punishable by death.
“Some of them, such as nurses and doctors, were handpicked because they possessed special skills,” said Mkhatshwa.
He said USDF used this selection process to stabilise the army.

Mkhatshwa said by doing so, the army was preventing possible rebellion by soldiers or even civil wars.
“That’s why in other countries, you find their presidents fleeing at night because the army had turned against them,” said Mkhatshwa.
He said he was not in a position to disclose the exact criteria of how all the recruits were selected for security reasons. Unionists condemn the process used by the army to select over 400 others.
Mkhatshwa retaliated by saying there was nothing wrong with the process.
He said the army started off by giving opportunities to many others in various constituencies. Vincent Ngcongwane, the Secretary General (SG) of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland said the army should be transparent when recruiting.

He blamed the army’s lack of transparency on parliamentarians.
Ngcongwane said it seemed even parliamentarians were afraid to debate the issue. “Are they telling us that the army is a no go area? Whose army is it?” he asked.
Quinton Dlamini, the President of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), also said the process was not transparent.
“It’s not the first time we are complaining about this,” said Dlamini.
He said this was a sign that the situation would never change.

Dlamini also said the army’s selection process was not transparent.
He said no one, other than the army, knew how the other 400 people who graduated were selected to be part of the recruits.
Dlamini said if the other people were not selected from various constituencies like the rest, the army should explain how they were recruited.
He said if the army was able to handpick the recruits, this defeated the purpose of announcing the recruitments which took place countrywide.

Wandile Dludlu, a coordinator at the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) also questioned how the number had increased from 300 to over 700 recruits. Dludlu also accused the army of not being transparent.
“Lack of transparency undermined the integrity of the country locally and internationally,” said Dludlu.
He said government should be considering investing in agriculture, health and education instead of recruiting more soldiers.
“What do soldiers produce?” he asked.

He said it was unbelievable for any government to spend more money on the military when there were a lot of poor people.
For the next financial year, the country’s army has E878 million to spend.
The Ministry of Education was allocated about E1.4 billion.
“We are not saying the army is not important. We are saying it is not a top priority,” said Dludlu.

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