Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Electoral Commission of Lesotho hosted a celebration of 20th anniversary under the theme; “Advancing Credibility and Integrity in Elections in the SADC region’’ and an annual general conference.
The conference also marks the existence of the Electoral Commission Forum of the Southern Africa Development Commission Countries (ECF-SADC). The event is held interchangeably by country members, with 2018 being Lesotho’s hosting turn.
Opening the conference, the Independent Electoral Commission, Justice Mahapeloa Lehohla, emphasized the government’s appreciation of the platform awarded to the Mountain Kingdom to host this prestigious event.
The ECF- SADC, launched in 1998 has a particular mandate of encouraging development and promotion of democratic culture and environment conducive to holding the free, fair and credible elections.
“The forum has played an important part in ensuring that management of elections in the SADC countries is improved. It has also contributed towards building the capacity of Electoral Management Bodies to fulfill their mandates,” explained Lehohla.
He further showed that the quality of a countries election is to a large extend dependent upon the quality of its electoral management body, further adding that some constraints the election management bodies face in their operation include limited independence, unclear mandates and inadequate resources.
He encouraged the fellow EMBs to utilize the knowledge shared and work tirelessly within their respective countries. The Deputy Minister, honourable Monyane Moleleki, appreciated the honor the Kingdom of Lesotho attained for hosting such a valuable event.
“Our region and continent have grown tremendously in our ability to hold free, transparent, credible and peaceful elections. This is because of the dedication and competence of the Electoral Management Bodies,” Moleleki said.
He encouraged countries to commit to serious political trade-offs for the betterment of social, political and economic progress, peace and stability within elections and the country’s activities in totality.
On the other hand, the President of ECF of SADC Countries, Justice Priscilla Makanyara Chigumba, highlighted that, since the establishment of ECF they have been able to share learnings and strengthen electoral democracy throughout the region.
“This platform has been key to supporting its various country members to develop into leading electoral management bodies within the continent and indeed in the global capacity building has been our mandate.
We continue to enrich staff of the member commissions through skills development programmes such as election observation opportunities,” Chigumba said.
