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RECRUITS INCREASE HMCS BUDGET BY OVER E87 MILLION

16/07/2023 15:11:00 Ntombi Mhlongo

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MBABANE – The recruitment of more personnel at His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) is already having a negative impact on the entity’s budget.

As a result of the recruitment, HMCS is set to be among government entities that will seek supplementary budget. The supplementary budget for the HMCS will not just be a few cents, but millions. The HMCS is among the country’s three armed security organs whose budget has for years been questioned in that it was too high. This happens at a time when government has in previous months stated that it was doing all in its power to cut down on the wage bill. When government gave the green light for the security forces to pursue the recruitment exercise, the initial plan was that each would take at least 150 recruits. However, the figure is believed to have increased to between 250 and 400.

projected

The Times SUNDAY has been reliably informed that HMCS has informed the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Sizakele Dlamini, that it was facing a projected over expenditure of about E87 981 658. The PS has been informed of the challenge in the HMCS’ monthly budget management report for the month of May 2023, which was submitted last month. The over expenditure is projected to occur under Item 1, which is for personnel costs. “This item has been insufficiently allocated funds yet the department has hired new personnel. A supplementary budget will be required from the Ministry of Finance,” reads part of the monthly budget management report. In terms of the national budget for the current financial year which was presented by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg in February this year, the allocation for the HMCS stood at E574 182 767.

expenditure

The figure included a recurrent budget of E546 182 767 and E28 million for capital expenditure. Based on the allocation, the projected over expenditure amounts to around 21 per cent of the overall budget. When interviewed, HMCS Commissioner General, Phindile Dlamini, confirmed that the entity had a challenge, in as far as its personnel costs were concerned. She explained that the funds provided were insufficient as there was a lot that needed to be taken care of. “It is true that we will need a supplementary budget. The truth is that when it comes to the officers of the HMCS, you have to pay them salaries, provide them with clothing and government has its own ceiling,” she said.

funds

Asked to explain why the projected over expenditure was too high, she said from the funds they had initially requested, they were asked to cut them down. “Even after we cut them down, we had to reduce the budget again. We have around 4 000 officers and a budget of around E500 million is not enough. Those funds also have to accommodate the prisoners who need to be fed. They need clothing as well. So it is not like we are just being ridiculous,” she said. The money spent on the security forces continues to increase despite the fiscal challenges that the government has complained about in the past few years. As the budget for the security forces increases every financial year, the country is struggling in other sectors, such as health, education and social services, where the financing is lacking. In an interview with Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Secretary General Mayibongwe Masangane in his capacity as a member of the secretariat of the Public Sector Unions (PSUs), he said budgets related to the security forces raised questions about government’s priorities.

approve

He said it was wrong from the start for government to approve the recruitment of additional staff for the security forces and not do same for critical sectors like health. “In the event that the supplementary budget is provided, it will be very unfortunate because the health system is crumbling. The amount needed by the HMCS is what should be invested in primary healthcare. Had government invested in primary healthcare we would not be experiencing challenges like the shortage of drugs in public hospitals,” Masangane said. Also, he said; “If you pump in a lot of money into security forces, we ask ourselves who exactly you are fighting with.” Since 2018, government has implemented a hiring freeze which the Finance minister said resulted in less than one per cent increase per annum in the wage bill. The minister said the wage bill had reduced as a percentage to budget, from 41 per cent in 2017 to a more sustainable 35 per cent as at February this year. However, priority was given to the security forces to recruit. Other ministries and departments have also been given the green light to fill a few vacant posts. As a result, this year’s budget provided E900 million more than last year to fill the vacancies following a management audit study which was conducted by the Ministry of Public Service, meant to identify critical vacant posts that needed filling.

sufficiently

With the armed forces, government decried that, while the Kingdom of Eswatini had always been renowned for its reputation of being a peaceful country, the security forces were not sufficiently equipped to adequately respond to the coordinated and widespread looting, rioting, arson and assassinations that the country has witnessed during the political unrest. Following a recruitment exercise conducted last year, the HMCS is believed to have added over 200 members to its personnel. Each recruit receives around E5 636 following that government reversed a decision which had effected a 52 per cent salary cut. Before the decision was reversed, the recruits received about E2 931 and the leaders of the State security agencies appealed.

HMCS is mandated by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini (2005) and the Correctional Services Act of 2017 to perform responsibilities that include, but not limited to, the administration of sentences imposed by legal courts of the country, safe containment of all persons committed to custody by the courts and facilitating the administration of justice by the production of offenders to courts for trial. The entity is also responsible for the rehabilitating and reformation of offenders through education, training and counselling, promoting offender’s opportunities for social reintegration through after care programme, actively participating in national security activities together with other security services and taking part in the activities of the Royal Close Protection Unit. When compared with other African countries, Eswatini’s security forces are among those which get the largest chunk of the national budget.

budget

When the kingdom’s budget is compared to the Republic of Mauritius and the Kingdom of Lesotho in the past few years, it has been the second highest after Mauritius. In the past four years, the budget for the security forces has stood at over E2 billion and this despite that the Kingdom of Eswatini has a population of less than 1.5 million people. For the current financial year, while the HMCS were allocated E574 182 767, the other two security forces received about E2.4 billion with the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) getting E1.17 billion while the army got E1.31 billion. This means that in total, about E2.48 billion was allocated to the security forces from the E26.4 billion tabled in February by the Finance minister.