{"id":8455,"date":"2022-01-12T11:14:13","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T11:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air"},"modified":"2022-01-12T11:46:46","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T11:46:46","slug":"iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air","title":{"rendered":"IEC Commissioners promise breath of fresh air"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>The much anticipated swearing in of the Commissioners of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had finally materialised at the ceremony which was officiated by the Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane at the High Court yesterday.<\/p>\n

The incoming Commissioners are Mphasa Mokhochane \u2013 who is also the Chairperson, Dr. Karabo Mokobocho and T\u0161oeu Petlane. The trio replace the former Commissioners Former Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla who was chairing the<\/p>\n

Commission assisted by Dr. Makase Nyaphisi and Advocate \u2018Mamosebi Pholo. The trio assume the roles following almost two years of vacancy in the positions of the Commissioners.<\/p>\n

They took the helm of the arguably \u201ctroubled\u201d institution following the recent developments that had bedevilled the Commission. Following the expiry of the former aforementioned<\/p>\n

contracts on January 2019, they had approached the courts seeking relief to have their contracts renewed. During the legal battle which they lost following the ruling by the Court of Appeal, the Commission was<\/p>\n

without the stewardship, the move which halted some projects within the commission to kick off as they require the green light from Commissioners. One such exercise is that<\/p>\n

of the demarcation of the constituencies, a decennial undertaking that happens following the census and the most recent being that of 2018. Also, during the<\/p>\n

legal battles of the former Commissioners the contract of the then Director of Elections Dr. Letholetseng Ntsike ended, neither was it renewed nor the<\/p>\n

successor engaged as such processes are done by the Commissioners. Addressing the media at the side-lines, the Chairperson said despite having been appointed on December<\/p>\n

1, they could not assume the offices as they had not been sworn in. Meanwhile,<\/p>\n

Mokhochane is not new to the Commission as he had previously served as the Director of Elections. He said they are coming with a lot of ideas to the Commission but hastened to show that such ideas may<\/p>\n

\u201cnot\u201d work adding that theirs is to ensure that there are free and fair elections of which every Mosotho will \u201caccept and be happy of\u201d. \u201cNow the<\/p>\n

question is, how do you make elections to be free and fair? Those are the work of the departments within the IEC who will assist us how to achieve our<\/p>\n

mandate. \u201d Asked how they are going to address the challenges that had rocked the Commission, he said: \u201cas a parent I take that when you have 10 children in the home and you leave them at home<\/p>\n

for a month, I can imagine what will happen; each and every one will strive to get food, each and every one will strive to be recognised. So now the commission has arrived as a head of the family.<\/p>\n

The first thing that we need to do as the Commission is to ensure that there is the Director of Elections who is the primary person to control and mobilise all the funds even the personnel<\/p>\n

at IEC. \u201d Reflecting on the \u201ctarnished\u201d name of the IEC following the recent developments, the notable one being a scuffle between the Commission personnel and the clip which was<\/p>\n

leaked on social media where there were voices of people who were at the brink of exchanging blows. \u201cThe good name of the IEC has been tarnished to any Mosotho, the good thing is to bring that good name of<\/p>\n

IEC,\u201d the Chairperson said and made resolve to take back the Commission to its former glory, adding that having served the institution for 20 years, then the<\/p>\n

IEC was esteemed. Asked when they will embark on the demarcation of the constituency following the nearer date of the upcoming 2022 general elections, he said the Commission is yet to advise itself<\/p>\n

if it will carry it post or before elections, adding that they would better get one thing correct than getting five things all wrong. The Section 66A of the<\/p>\n

Constitution charges IEC with the responsibility: \u201cto ensure that elections to the National Assembly and local authorities are held regularly and that every<\/p>\n

election or referendum held is free and fair. To organize, conduct and supervise, in an impartial an independent manner, elections to the National Assembly and referenda under the provisions of this Constitution and any other<\/p>\n

law; to delimit the boundaries of constituencies in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and any other law; to supervise and control the<\/p>\n

registration of electors; to compile a general register of electors and constituency registers of electors for the several constituencies and to maintain such register or registers up to date.<\/p>\n

To promote knowledge of sound democratic electoral processes; g. to register political parties; h. to ascertain, publish and declare the results of elections an referenda; to<\/p>\n

adjudicate complaints of alleged irregularities in any aspect of the electoral or referendum process at any stage other than in an election petition; and to perform<\/p>\n

such other functions as may be prescribed by or under any law enacted by Parliament. \u201d The Commissioners signed a five year contract that will end on November 30 2025.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. The much anticipated swearing in of the Commissioners of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had finally materialised at the ceremony which was officiated by the Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane at the High Court yesterday. The incoming Commissioners are Mphasa Mokhochane \u2013 who is also the Chairperson, Dr. Karabo Mokobocho and T\u0161oeu Petlane. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[233,246,1392,245],"class_list":["post-8455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-commissioners","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nIEC Commissioners promise breath of fresh air - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The much anticipated swearing in of the Commissioners of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had finally material ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IEC Commissioners promise breath of fresh air\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The much anticipated swearing in of the Commissioners of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had finally material ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-12T11:14:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-12T11:46:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/01\/img-61debf8d48963.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"IEC Commissioners promise breath of fresh air\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-12T11:14:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-12T11:46:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air\"},\"wordCount\":838,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/01\/img-61debf8d48963.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Commissioners\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/iec-commissioners-promise-breath-of-fresh-air\",\"name\":\"IEC Commissioners promise breath of fresh air - 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