‘Mantšali Phakoana
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced that fresh local government elections will be held in nine Electoral Divisions (EDs) across the country.
This is after some candidates died before the September 29 2023 elections and also where candidates obtained an equal number of votes.
The chairperson of the electoral body, Mphasa Mokhochane, on Wednesday this week announced that elections failed to take place at Menkhoaneng, (Leribe district), Manka (Leribe), Bolahla (Leribe) and MCC Electoral Divisions-Maseru (EDs), following the untimely death of independent candidates ahead of the elections.
Mokhochane said there was a tie in a number of votes at Sephokong Electoral Division (Leribe), where the Democratic Congress (DC) and Socialist Revolution (SR) candidates secured equal votes.
The same happened at Ramoetsana ED (Mafeteng) where Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) and Movement for Economic Change (MEC) candidates had a draw.
At Makoabating Electoral Division (Mafeteng), DC and independent candidates obtained equal votes. The same situation obtained at Bokong Electoral Division (Thaba-Tseka) where Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) and DC candidates scored equal votes, as well as Menoaneng Electoral Division (Mokhotlong) where the candidates from the Alliance of Democrats (AD) and Democratic Congress obtained equal votes.
Mokhochane noted that the IEC would therefore be forced by the law to hold fresh elections at a later stage in the nine EDs where there were no outright winners and where elections failed to take place owing to the death of candidates.
Despite these hiccups, he declared the elections free, fair and credible.
The chairperson further commended Basotho who went to polling stations and exercised their right to vote.
He added that this year’s voter turnout of 26.4 percent was an indication that the nation still had interest in voting.
“Out of the 51 parties registered with the IEC, we have learned when announcing the results that only 45 contested for the local government elections, while 2138 independent candidates also contested for the elections,” he pointed out.
Mokhochane also commended independent candidates for showing interest in the polls, adding that their high number is a milestone.
He also sang praises for the country’s security agencies for ensuring the elections went smoothly.
Mokhochane stated that election kits were successfully delivered to remote areas where there is no means of transport through the support of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), which provide a helicopter.
Citing another positive, he said during the elections, the electoral body was working with various stakeholders such as political parties, the Logistics and Security Committee, and the Elections Coordination Committee “who showed love and commitment for the country”.
The election coordination committee, made of political parties’ representatives was responsible of the thoroughly checking elections results as they were announced at ‘Manthabiseng Convention Centre.
Speaking at the same occasion, director of elections Mpaiphele Maqutu thanked for the IEC Commissioners for trusting him with the role of leading the elections, adding that that the task could have not been easy if not for their support.
“I thank the commissioners for entrusting me to lead and deliver these very important elections on behalf of the nation, and under their leadership.
“Elections are a very important national event which would have not been successful without collaboration of all stakeholders, not only a responsible for the IEC,” Maqutu noted.
Meanwhile, five candidates from Qacha’s Urban Council say they petitioned the Qacha’s Nek electoral office on September 3, demanding a re of elections.
The candidates claim that a polling station for the inmates was illegally established prior to the elections and that its results were combined with those of the United LEC Primary School voting station before counting.
One of the five petitioners, Motlatsi Ncholu, who was contesting as an independent said they petitioned the IEC because they wanted it to address the matter before concluding the announcement of the results, but could not get response.
Three of the petitioners belong to the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), Basotho Action Party (BAP) and Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) while two are independent candidates.
Ncholu accused the returning officer at United LEC Primary School voting station for unlawfully mixing the results with the explanation that they were doing that to hide those coming from the rehabilitation institution.
“That was wrong according to Section 9A (2). We have tabled our grievances and we are expecting an answer within seven days,” Ncholu said.
Contacted for comment this week, IEC public relations manager Lydia Macheli said the electoral body had not received any complaints yet.
However, she said the candidates should have been formally informed by the IEC staff at their respective polling stations that the results for advance voting, which was on September 27, had to be mixed with other results so that could not be identified or show who the voters voted for.
“That is the procedure. The advance votes are kept safety until election day, and during that day after the polling stations close, the IEC staff at a selected polling station mix the advance voters’ votes with the votes for the day of the elections, that is called intermix.
“They (IEC staff in the presence of the party agents) mix such results for privacy, and for them not to be obvious and show who was voted for. I believe that was the case at this particular council, but I will make a follow up to establish what really happened,” Macheli indicated.
The Qacha’s Urban Council seat was won by the DC candidate, Moshe Mofuthoane, who told theReporter yesterday that the complainants accused him of winning because his wife was working at IEC.
“Their accusations are baseless because even though my wife works at IEC, she does not finalise election results or votes. There are party agents based at each polling station, mandated to ensure that no one cheats,” Mofuthoane said.
Efforts to get comment from Qacha’s Nek district electoral office were fruitful yesterday as the phone kept ringing unanswered.
There are a total of 950 Electoral Divisions in the country, 76 community councils, 12 urban councils and one Maseru Municipality Council (MMC).
