BY MBONO MDLULI
MATSAPHA – The Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) has been commended for ensuring a safe environment for everyone during the Incwala ceremony.
Speaking today, January 23, 2025, when opening the Senior Police Officers and Senior Civilian Support Staff Conference at Matsapha Police Academy, Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini praised the police officers for applying the same attitude when policing the country during the festive season.
“I would like to conclude by commending the Police Service for the security arrangements set up for the Incwala Ceremony which ensured that all enjoyed this national event in a safe and harmonious spirit. The same sentiment goes for your policing strategies during the festive season where the Nation enjoyed their holidays in peaceful and tranquil conditions,” Dlamini said.
The prime minister noted that the police could execute all their duties because of their discipline and the fact that they stayed true to their calling as police officers. Before delivering his speech, the premier led the senior police officers and all those in attendance, including MPs Nathi Hlophe (Mtfongwaneni) and Bishop Bhekibandla Vilakati (Ngwemphisi), in song.
The Gospel song was titled, ‘There is a race,’ a song that was made famous by renowned Gospel singers such as Sipho Makhabane , Jabu Hlongwane, and a Gospel group known as Swazi Voice of Praise. In the song, there are verses in which God is asked by the singers to give them power every hour to be true. It is from those verses that the prime minister began motivating the senior law enforcers to be true to their calling.
“Be true to your calling; to what you took oath for as police officers – that you will uphold law and order in the country. Likewise, as Christians, we must be true to the faith – at work, at home and everywhere. If we proclaim to be saved, it shouldn’t be just by word of mouth but also by actions,” he said.
The prime minister said as a norm, the general public accorded police officers special recognition and an elevated status and authority. “Therefore, you are obliged to reciprocate such an honour by dedicating every moment of your service to justify such endorsement. Therefore, I wish to urge every police officer to renew their commitment and dedication to duty to the country and its citizens, both at individual and collective levels,” he said.
He challenged all members of the police service to always work with due diligence and professionalism through adherence to the organisational guiding values. As the police senior management, Dlamini said they were tasked with strengthening systems that would ensure that officers always maintained a disciplined disposition which was a distinctive trait in law enforcement. “The policing profession places a high premium on behavioural attributes,” he said.
The PM noted that the theme for the conference, “Sikhona as a Police Service, Sitse NKWE in Fighting Crime and Road Carnage to Ensure the Safety and Security of the Nation in Partnership with Stakeholders” was perfectly in sync with the central Government’s programme of action strategies, goals and objectives in the public safety and security sector.
He said as an emergency service provider, he noted the police officers’ sense of urgency and spirit of promptness when attending to distress calls as rightly captured by the theme and this should guide their service delivery mechanisms for the year ahead. “We cannot omit to mention your significant role in the ongoing disaster situation as caused by the incessant rains leading to floods and overflowing dams and rivers,” he said.
