No promotion, I was constable for 23 years - MP

LOBAMBA – Nkomiyahlaba MP Mduduzi Dlamini aroused curiosity among his colleagues on the promotion criterion in REPS when he submitted that he had been a constable for 23 years.

In simpler terms, a constable is a junior police officer with limited policing authority.

Dlamini, who was also a police officer before he joined politics, gave Acting National Commissioner (NATCOM) of Police Lydia Dlamini her flowers, stating that it was the first time that they observed promotions which entailed jumping other positions to a more senior one for other officers, something that had not transpired before.

The legislator said the acting commissioner had the ‘nkwe’ attitude and her energy complemented that of the PM. However, he narrated that in his 23 years serving at the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), he never got promoted, but remained a constable, much to the dismay of the parliamentarians. He said sometimes, one would get promoted to sergeant, having only three until they retired, something that was very unfortunate.

Gege MP Magesi Dlamini voiced out his concern on the same matter, so much that he wanted to know the committee responsible for promotions at REPS.

He said it was concerning that somebody remained a constable for three decades and then a young police officer got promoted after a short while, simply because they were well connected.

“One wonders how the people responsible for promotions at the police service operate. In other countries, one gets an automatic promotion after 10 years to sergeant, in our case, one even retires or dies before they could be promoted. This is a cause for concern,” he said.