BY MBONO MDLULI
MKHIWENI – Following an unsuccessful army (UEDF) exercise at Mkhiweni Inkhundla, the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) has decided to start afresh and do another recruitment exercise at the Inkhundla on October 8, 2025.
The recruitment exercise is expected to start at 8am at the Mkhiweni Inkhundla centre. This decision was communicated to the Mkhiweni residents by Brigadier General Thabo Luhlanga after it was realised that the exercise had not gone according to plan.
The decision was gladly accepted by the aspiring soldiers and the residents who had gone to follow the recruitment proceedings. The aspiring soldiers and the residents were worried on what was going to happen after it was discovered that things had not gone according to plan during the exercise.
Luhlanga told the apologised to the aspiring soldiers and those concerned, as he stated that there was a misunderstanding that seemed to have taken place during the exercise.
He said there were soldiers who were deployed to monitor the route where the race would take place, but he did not want to know what led to the misunderstanding. He said he would not know who could be blamed for the unfortunate incident.
When members of the media probed further on what could have led to the incident, they were informed by members of the UEDF that some of the aspiring soldiers ran after a UEDF kombi that eventually drove on a direction on which the race was not supposed to be run. This happened after the army recruitment candidates came across a junction.
Soldiers had been deployed on the junction to give instructions to the candidates on where to run. However, the aspiring soldiers are said to have followed the kombi, which had taken its own route.
Some of the aspiring soldiers are said to have run to places as far as the Mbuluzi Army Barracks, where the kombi is said to have gone. Some of the aspiring soldiers decided to stop running, upon seeing that they would not reach the finishing point. They decided to march back to the constituency (inkhundla) centre, where their starting point was.
It was expected that the race runners were to sweat it out for a duration of 15 minutes. After 20 minutes had elapsed, it became clear to all those following the proceedings that something had not gone right.
The Army Recruitment Committee made its investigations and found that there had been a misunderstanding. At the end, a decision to conduct another exercise on October 8, 2025 was reached.
This decision was seen by most aspiring soldiers as a chance for them to prepare for the race. They feel as if their prospects of winning could be increased.
