We were deceived, hoodwinked by NATCOM, counterpart - officers

MBABANE- “We were deceived and hoodwinked by the national commissioner and his counterpart from His Majesty’s Correctional Services.”

These submissions were made by junior police officers through the Royal Eswatini Police Service Staff Association, in their application where they have taken the national commissioner (NATCOM) of police to court.

According to the junior officers, the duo purportedly informed them that during a parade in 2014, the position of commissioner of police was changed to that of national commissioner of police.

They argued that this was despite the fact that the Constitution referred to the position of commissioner of police.

According to the applicants (junior officers), the explanation that was given by the NATCOM, was that when they (commissioners) attended meetings with their counterparts from other countries, their positions appeared as junior positions hence; they saw the need to standardise and use titles which were equivalent to their counterparts in other countries.

They brought it to the attention of the court that to that end, the commissioner of police was transformed to that of NATCOM, while the commissioner of Correctional Services was changed to that of commissioner general.

Changes

“The two commissioners misrepresented to us as junior officers that these were merely cosmetic changes of titles and that there were no financial changes attached to them. They concealed the circular from us until we found it on our own in 2021,” contended the junior officers.

The applicants argued that, in terms of the 2014 Circular, the salaries of all police officers and Correctional Services officers were to be increased in two phases. Phase 1 entailed the increase of salaries of senior officers from the rank of senior superintendent and above. Phase II of the circular was to entail the increment of salaries for junior officers.

“This is the phase which never took place and which has given rise to the series of meetings held by the two staff associations in the security forces,” they submitted.

The applicants highlighted to the court that, the implementation of Phase 1 of the 2014 Circular without Phase II resulted in a wide gap between the highest paid officer in the two forces and the lowest paid.

“The highest paid officers (NATCOM and commissioner general of His Majesty’s Correctional Services) currently earn E657 882 per annum, while the lowest paid officer (constable on notch 1) earns an annual salary of E111 842. This means that currently (after Circular No. 1/2022) there is a gap of E546 040 between the highest paid and the lowest paid officers,” argued the officers.