MBABANE – Nearly five months after Russel Dlamini’s appointed as Prime Minister, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) is now looking for a person to fit into his shoes.
At the time of his appointment as the leader of the executive arm of government on November 04, 2023, at the Ludzidzini Royal Cattle byre, Dlamini was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the NDMA.
The search for candidates has been given to recruitment agency AMRS Eswatini, according to an advert that is circulating in the local media.
The recruitment agency will have a tough time finding the suitable candidate to replace Dlamini, following His Majesty King Mswati’s directive to give disaster preparedness a priority for government. During his Speech from the throne, the king said it was government’s duty to strengthen disaster preparedness, given the impact exerted by climate change.
As if to respond to the king’s directive, the company that has been mandated with the search for the PM’s replacement has clearly stated that the eventual successor must be a highly adept and strategically inclined individual who is passionate about the work done by the agency – to prevent and substantially reduce the impact of disasters in the Kingdom.
Moreover, the suitable candidate is expected to be an expertly exposed professional.
The government parastatal has been without a permanent Chief Executive Officer for nearly five months now. The position of CEO in the organisation has been vacant since the departure of Dlamini following his appointment as PM by His Majesty the king during a gathering held at the country’s traditional headquarters, at Ludzidzini Royal Residence.
Alongside the search for a CEO, the organisation is also seeking to recruit a Legal Advisor who will also double as the government parastatal’s Board Secretary.
Prospective candidates are expected to have submitted their resumes and applications by Tuesday, March 19, 2024. This is according to the advert placed by the recruitment agency in the local media.
“The successful candidates must be highly adept and strategically inclined individuals who are passionate about the work done by NDMA to prevent and substantially reduce the impact of disasters in the Kingdom of Eswatini,” read the advert in part.
The NDMA is a government parastatal established through the 2006 Disaster Management Act of Swaziland. At the onset of the creation of the agency, its mandate was to lead, coordinate and manage a comprehensive and lead, coordinate and manage a comprehensive and systematic disaster risk management function of the country through mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction into Sector Plans and Budgets.
The public enterprise unit succeeded the National Disaster Task Force, which comprised of technical officers from different government ministries deployed to respond to the 1992 drought disaster. This was an ad hoc committee that was constituted at the disaster on – set phase and was mainly mandated to provide emergency relief hence inclined towards disaster response.
In the advent of disaster risk management the focus then shifted from disaster management, which was mainly reactive towards a more proactive approach of Disaster Risk Reduction, hence the NDMA was born.
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