Tanzanian Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga says SADC will stand up if anyone doesn’t accept the outcome of an election declared free and fair after the mountain kingdom‘s June 3 poll.
The Minister, who is heading the SADC Election Observer Mission in Maseru, says it is disappointing that when Lesotho should be celebrating Africa Day it is preoccupied with forming and stabilising government.
SADC says Lesotho is ready for elections and the atmosphere is peaceful.
About 41 Observers from nine SADC member states will be deployed for the June 3 elections. But SADC believes if Lesotho had implemented constitutional reforms as advised, the government would not have collapsed again.
The SADC Mission will monitor both pre and post-election and deliver its preliminary statement two days after the election.
It will urge all parties to accept the outcome if the election is declared free and fair. And an opportunity to drive the message home as the continent celebrates Africa Day.
Foreign Minister of Tanzania Augustine Mahiga says, “It is a strange paradox indeed that on this 25th day of May 2017 marking the historical occasion of the commemoration of the founding of the organisation of African unity, when we should ordinarily be celebrating milestones in the advancement of our societies and the consolidation of our democratic institutions, we are still locked in protracted debates on the basic requirements of forming and stabilising governments.”
SADC will be on the ground until the12th of June or longer after the election. The bloc will support the new government through the reform process.
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– By Nthakoana Ngatane
