Over 7 000 election jobs for emaSwati this year

MBABANE - The EBC has projected over 7 000 temporal jobs during this year’s national elections.

EBC stands for the Elections and Boundaries Commission and is responsible for the country’s national and local government elections. According to EBC’s Communications Officer, Mbonisi Bhembe, the 2018 national elections’ amount of personnel will be used as a benchmark this year.

“It is a tricky situation; however, we will be guided by the number of people who were employed in the past elections.

“Also, the number of personnel will be determined by the voters who will eventually show up for the national elections through registration,” Bhembe clarified.

Meanwhile, EBC has invited all emaSwati to apply for this year’s general elections jobs.

According to the commission, the job opportunities are open for everyone, which means the over 7 000 people would have an income for the better part of the year.

Accessible

“EBC has made available job application for ms which can easily be filled and are accessible in all the tinkhundla centres in the country. The application for ms are filled and are supposed to be left at the inkhundla centre or with the regional administrators ( RA),” pointed out the communications of ficer.

Further more, Bhembe said the last date to fill in the job application is February 28, 2023 and applicants are not expected to pay any money in obtaining the application for ms as they are free.

Positions that are available are those of regional distribution voter registration personnel and that of regional distribution polling personnel. Nor mally during elections, the country’s three ar med forces provide security services and even assist EBC in some responsibilities as they execute their mandate.

DeployeD

The security agencies were to be deployed in preparation for the national elections for the purpose of ascertaining the number of officers required for visible policing and a standby reaction team for emergencies, escorting and safekeeping of ballot papers and election materials internally and externally managing and ensuring peace and order during the elections.

The country is gearing towards the 2023 national elections in a date to be announced where bucopho, Indvuna yenkhundla and Members of Parliament are expected to be elected under the Tinkhundla System of Government.

Elections were last held in 2018 where over 90 per cent of emaSwati registered and eventually 60 per cent made it to the ballot box to elect their ideal candidates.

Some of the members of both chambers are elected, while the rest are appointed by the King of Eswatini. Election is by secret ballot in a first- past- the- post system of voting.

serve

Members of both chambers serve five- year terms. All candidates run on a non- partisan basis, as political parties are banned.

General elections were held in Eswatini in June 1964 to elect members of the Legislative Council but under the new Constitution they were held in 2008.

The commission delegated authority to recommend the recruitment of community registration clerks and competent witnesses to the traditional authorities.

The requirements for recruitment of registration clerks was computer literacy, completion of high school and experience in elections. Traditional authorities were advised to also consider gender balance in their selection.

According to numerous studies, the unemployment rate stands at 41 per cent in Eswatini.