The staff association
representing Swaziland’s jail warders has been banned from meeting because it
is asking too many questions about how the prison department works.
The Commissioner General of
His Majesty’s Correctional Services Isaiah Mzuthini Ntshangase reportedly said
the Correctional Staff Association was a ‘hindrance’ and took up too much time.
The Observer on Saturday newspaper in Swaziland reported (14 October
2017) the association had been banned from meeting across Swaziland.
It reported one staff
member saying, ‘Staff Association members are being victimised and petty crimes
are being plotted against them by all means. We are scared to voice out our
challenges as no meeting is sanctioned by the commissioner general where we can
discuss our concerns as officers.’
The newspaper added that
some staff members had been stopped from
contesting the forthcoming local government elections, although they are
legally entitled to do so. They received letters saying this was because of
their work as prison officers and representatives of the staff association.
The Observer on Saturday also reported that the staff association had
been blocked from meeting ‘because it is viewed as a rebellious faction for
their continued questioning of wrongs within the department’.
It added, ‘The Staff
Association is seen as a body that has been vocal on issues that led to the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) clauses being implemented to the
contentious Correctional Bill that has recently been passed.
The Observer on Saturday reported, ‘The Correctional Staff Association
is a body of representatives for correctional officers that is alleged to have
questioned the proceeds of the Correctional staff canteens, the non-availability
of audited statements of the staff canteens, the total takeover of the entity
by the commissioner general and disregarding the entity’s constitution. The
rampant looting of the canteen proceeds has seen retired officers demanding a
share.’
See also
PROBE
INTO ‘INHUMANE’ JAIL CONDITIONS
PROBE
INTO CORRUPTION AT SWAZI JAIL
JAILERS
SEX ASSAULT ON MALE INMATES
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