After almost a month after the training
Lesotho Council of NGOs will dispatch a team of about 600
electoral educators countrywide to persuade Basotho to flood
the polls in the upcoming local government elections
envisaged for October 1st 2011.
The electoral education had initially envisaged to commence
beginning of June 2011 had not started because the funds had
to not reached LCN. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)
are the funding partner in the campaign. The delay came
about the IEC having to follow due procurement process of
the Government in order be given funds for this campaign.
IEC had to then engage the Ministry of Finance and
Development Planning on the way forward. Though the IEC were
finally given green light the conditions with which the
ministry had granted them impacted on the original agreement
with LCN. It was then at this time that LCN consulted its
constituency of member NGOs who after long deliberations
resolved that what is important is that Basotho contribute
to the vibrancy of this democracy by going to the polls.
It is at this point that though the terms of the agreement
are no longer in their original form, the civil society
still nonetheless committed to undertaking its mandate of
conducting the electoral campaign.
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LCN
and IEC during the signing of the MoU on electoral
education during a press conference-The Director of
Elections Mr. Mphasa Mokhochane and the LCN
executive Director Mrs. 'Mabulara Tsuene signed on
behalf of the two institutions respectively |
The electoral education is now expected
to be conducted over the remaining two months just before
the date of the elections as announced by IEC. LCN and IEC
believe that collaboration between them is necessary to
effectively deal with reversing the voter apathy, enhancing
of democracy, civil duty and responsibility and to further
encourage voter registration by encouraging people to turn
out in huge numbers in order to cast the elections
respectively. The agreement is also in recognition of civil
society expertise and capacity to conduct various forms of
civic education operating at different geographic parts of
Lesotho at the same time focusing on different sectors of
society.
To further ensure effective and efficient entrenchment of
the message to the public the LCN will deploy atleast seven
voter educators per community council who will be residing
in the village (especially in the remote places of the
country) from the beginning of the campaign until the
envisaged local government elections to take place on the
1st October 2011; in other words by the time elections
arrive the process of elections will still be fresh in the
voters minds inevitably igniting the interest to go and
vote.
The electoral education troops are expected to commence work
beginning of August 2011.
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