Playing the waiting game in promotions

By John Gerezani

It is an established ritual in the neti department that promotions of NCOs occur within the first two months of every year. But this year is turning out to be very long for many hopefuls with HQ (Magereza House) having pressed the mute button.

Signs that all was not well emerged after the provincial interviews when some anonymous smarters threw a spanner in the works claiming that more qualified and deserving cases had been given the short end of the stick as nepotism, cronyism and vested interests allegedly took control of the short listing process.

Questions were raised as to why long serving "A" level graduates and diploma holders were largely overlooked in the exercise yet the core mandate of the new correctional services requires more of brain than brawn. I am also reliably informed that there are a couple of degree holders doing some mundane stuff instead of being gainfully engaged in their fields of specialisation. Should matters persist as they are where the senior old guard are forever suspicious of their more skilled and exposed juniors, then transfers to remote outposts and frustrations are likely to continue unabated.

Perhaps Izzo should borrow a leaf from what is happening in the Judiciary and strike when it’s still hot lest the inferno consumes him as well.

Corporals, Sergeant-Majors and Senior Serjeants are the main fulcrum upon which the neti wheels hinge and any wise leader who doesn’t want upheavals in the department knows that having this cadre on one’s side is a sure plus. Junior smarters are also known to covet their first leap into responsibility upon being promoted to corporals hence one can imagine the simmering discontent in the event that the annual ritual is delayed or cancelled.

Gross happiness

The gross happiness index is unerringly pointing south at the moment. As the promotions hang in the balance, could someone please help the many senior smarters serving without job descriptions thus spend their days lounging and marking time as they wait for the shift change.

Imagine a statistician holed up as a court officer, an agricultural engineer marooned to the dog unit and a lawyer garbed to lead a search team! C’mon guys you can do better than this.

Then there is another cadre of mid-level smarters called Chief Officers who serve at the pleasure of the powers that be. We regard them as heralded warders as they are not gazzetted by the Public Service Commission...it starts at the rank of Superitendant, and so their demotion, interdiction and even dismissal is handled departmentally.

Though many are resourceful and yearn to revolutionalise the archaic system to bring it at par with international best practices, they are overly cautious lest they step on well-connected toes and find themselves in Siberia.

The sum total of all these factors is that there is too much motion and very little movement in the reform agenda as everyone plays the waiting game. There is also a general consensus that the work Wiper delegates to task forces can be better handled by professionals in the department at a fraction of the cost if the young turks are given an opportunity to prove their mettle.

The answer to this miasma, therefore, lies in an immediate staff appraisal and rationalisation scheme where skill and expertise is matched to duty and performance evaluated on that score. Those who do not add value must take a hike while every smarter of the rank of superintendent and above must be subjected to fresh vetting even as the source of their vast wealth is put to scrutiny. That is the only sure way to revamp the system and bring new thinking.

Finally good people, could someone tell me why many neti sonkos fear going on leave like the plague. While at it, could someone explain to me the relevance of neti deputy sonkos and their job descriptions if any. As you savour that, let’s go back to where we started. Those promotions, niaje Izzo?