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MBABANE – In a bid to curb corruption and bribery, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) will institute a committee to monitor the upcoming recruitment of polling officers.
The polling officers will be recruited from thousands of emaSwati who had shown interest in the elections jobs, which come once in five years. The job opportunities come at a time when the unemployment rate stands at 33.3 per cent in Eswatini. Speaking on national radio yesterday morning, EBC Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mbonisi Bhembe said the commission was committed to guarding against corruption and bribery during the course of the hiring. This, Bhembe said, was because the commission subscribed to core values, which included integrity and trustworthiness.
He urged emaSwati to join hands with the commission in the fight against corruption and bribery.
Exchange
“We are not expecting anyone to pose as a messiah who would help people to get the EBC jobs. The EBC does not use agents in the recruitment exercise. We urge members of the public to be on the guard against people who will pose as messiahs and demand bribes in exchange for the jobs,” Bhembe said.
He added that even EBC employees were not at an advantage to hire their own people, as the opportunities were open to all emaSwati.
“Record any person who will come to you and lure you into paying bribes in exchange for the EBC job. You can also record video clips and send them through to the commission so that disciplinary measures will be taken against the perpetrators,” he said.
Bhembe stated that even though he was not in possession of the exact data of applicants as the application process was still ongoing; there were many people who had shown interest in the EBC jobs.
Worth noting, is that there had been suggestions from different sectors of society to the effect that preference should be given to the unemployed youth.
The suggestion came after an observation that employed and retired people were competing with the youth for the temporary jobs. Some people were of the view that preference should be given to the youth so that they could upgrade themselves.
Opportunities
EBC had welcomed the suggestion from the public. However, it stated that for now, it had no instrument to stop other people from participating in the recruitment process, as the opportunities were open to all emaSwati.
On another note, Bhembe said campaigning was not allowed before the allotted time. However, he was quick to state that it was not easy proving if someone was campaigning before nomination of candidates. He said buying goodies for electorates was an insult to the elections.
He made an example that buying blankets and food during the course of the campaign undermined the candidate’s integrity. Bhembe said whosoever wanted to give should first engage the area’s authorities before reaching out to the people.
“If people want job creation, food security, among other things, they should look for someone with capabilities as opposed to someone who can buy them goodies. Goodies will never create jobs or improve food security,” he said.