PEOPLE in Matabeleland have called for decetralised recruitment of civil servants including soldiers, police officers and nurses amid concern that recruiters were allegedly ignoring the region.
The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) recently invited applications from people eligible to join the force as general duty soldiers across the country.
However, several aspiring candidates have complained that most of the people who are recruited are usually from other regions.
In a notice published last week, the ZNA indicated that the candidates should have five ordinary levels with Grade C or better, be aged between 18 and 22 years, be physically and medically fit, single, with a minimum height of 1,65m for males and 1,55m for females.
The notice further indicated that potential recruits should weigh not less than 55kg for males and 53kg for females.
“Applicants are to deposit their application letters together with certified copies of academic certificates, ID and birth certificate at Formation Headquarters and selected venues within their respective provinces and districts over the period February 21 to March 7, 2025,” the notice read.
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Development practitioner Thembelani Dube, who is also deputy chairperson of the Rural Community Empowerment Trust, told NewsDay that the recruitment must be an opportunity for the Matabeleland people to be absorbed into national departments, ministries and
agencies.
“The challenge is the advection of human capital from other regions to come and pretend to be from the region, in the process blocking those who genuinely deserve to participate,” Dube said.
“It is critical to observe devolution principles in all aspects. All provinces must prioritise residents of their respective regions.”
Nkayi Community Parliament Speaker Nhlanhla Ncube said the army and police recruitment are just like any other sector of employment in Matabeleland where outsiders are always beneficiaries ahead of locals.
“The geography of recruitment could be Matabeleland but the matrix is Mashonaland. Placing recruitment in Matabeleland is just a publicity stunt meant to woodwind the gullible,” Ncube said.
Public policy research expert Samukele Hadebe said the ZNA recruitment approach that covers all provinces is highly recommended not just to benefit locals but those who deserve it.
“However, in practice, this seems not to be the case unfortunately. Just in the barracks here at Ntabazinduna you often witness temporary shelters mushrooming towards recruitment periods showing that some potential recruits could be coming from outside the region,” Hadebe
said.
“Would they do that and get away with it without a hand supporting them? I doubt it. Therefore, recruiting outsiders as if they were from Matabeleland not only undermines ZNA's inclusive policy, but the whole balancing in the composition of our uniformed forces should reflect the country's demography and multilingualism from our diverse geographies.”
He said numbers could help to limit those who wish to steal opportunities but above all people must be vigilant and speak out on any wrongdoing or those cheating the process when they do not deserve it. Political analyst Effie Ncube, however, said the concerns of locals must be based on empirical evidence and not assumptions.
“I urge the concerned citizens to research and come up with fact-based concerns so that we can say on such a day, recruitment was done and a certain number of outsiders was recruited while only a few locals were recruited, that way our advocacy will be mature on that it is based on empirical evidence,” Ncube said.
Bubi Community Parliament member Nkosilathi Ncube said the recruitment of the police, army and other uniformed units must be decentralised and ZNA is doing it correctly though there must be a deliberate ploy to discriminate against people.
“There must be a deliberate attention to recruiting people according to their original residency ideally identified through their tribe rather than just considering that the person is a resident in a place,” he said.
“There must be attempts to accommodate Tongas in Binga, Kalangas in Plumtree, Vendas in Beitbridge and not just to say one stays in a place and deserves to be recruited.”
