VOTER registers are often a key source of disputed elections across Africa, with electoral authorities often accused of using defecting rolls to rig elections, mostly in favour of incumbent ruling parties.
Fortunately, despite our own defective voters register, successive Independent Electoral Commissions (IECs) in Lesotho have been able to deliver free, credible elections which have resulted in frequent changes of governments.
That has catapulted Lesotho into one of Africa’s foremost democracies, albeit a beleaguered one. We are a country in which seamless handovers of power to new administrations happen frequently, a rarity in Africa.
It is in the context of the IEC’s ability to deliver credible elections that a mere six month old Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) was able to win power.
That Lesotho’s healthy and vibrant democratic dispensation has not translated into economic and social prosperity for a large part of the population is a very sad thing. But that’s a story for another day.
Lesotho’s success in holding credible elections does not excuse the concerns against its voter’s register, nonetheless.
Which is why it’s a good thing that the IEC has embarked on a process to overhaul it.
We are not persuaded by opposition parties who have blamed the IEC for using the register of voters to sway elections against them. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be having the smooth transitions of power we have experienced in the last two decades or so. Indeed, the opposition have never been able to proffer any viable evidence that the voters roll is manipulated against them.
Nonetheless, a properly constituted voters register will only further enhance the credibility of our elections. So, it must be done. The IEC’s move to draw a new roll is thus a noble move.
In 2011, the IEC engaged the services of an election expert to assess the state of its voters register.
In his report titled, ‘The State of the voters’ register as at July 2011’, the expert, R W Johnson, said there was need for Lesotho to regularly clean up the voter’s register to remove names of the so-called ghost voters.
He noted that while he would rather have a completely new voters register drawn, financial challenges did not allow for that exercise to happen then.
At the time of Mr Johnson’s report the voters register had 987 180 registered voters, a figure which he said was a mismatch to the number of Basotho who were actually eligible to vote. Thousands of adults had died mainly due to the HIV/Aids pandemic and had remain on the roll as “ghosts”.
Mr Johnson said failure by the IEC to remove names of the deceased people, gave a misleading notion of apathy because the defective register did not allow for proper tallying. Since his report, there hasn’t been a complete and proper overhaul of the roll except some tinkering exercises.
Lesotho’s civic groups have also been complaining after every election that the numbers reflected on the voter register did not match reality on the ground.
In September 2023, the IEC’s voter register reflected 1,388,207 voters in a country of roughly two million. That figure appears problematic. It is the same voter register that was used in the 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2022 general elections. It was also used in the 2017 and 2023 municipal elections amid complaints that it is defective. In all these elections a low turnout was recorded. It could be that the apathy levels are exaggerated because of a roll with inflated numbers.
We will only know when a new one is done exclusively using the national ID card as announced by the IEC.
The current roll was based on passports as a means of identity and considering that a sizeable number of the passports were forged, it is reasonable to question its accuracy.
According to the IEC’s Senior Marketing and Communications Manager, Tuoe Hantši, all citizens are now required to visit IEC offices “with only their national identity documents”.
The exclusive use of the national ID for the registration and re-registration of voters would ensure the accuracy and integrity of the new register. That is a win for democracy. Not least because it is critical to keep voter registration rolls as accurate and up to date as possible to conduct credible elections.
To address the defective voter register, a conference funded by the UNDP, including other key stakeholders such as the IEC and the Department of Home Affairs and international experts in voter registration, was convened in Maseru last December.
At the conference , the IEC listed three major problems with Lesotho’s voters roll: duplication and misplacement of names and non-deletion of deceased electors.
The IEC’s latest move offers an ample opportunity to address all these concerns.
Sadly, despite the electoral body’s noble efforts, they will be hamstrung by the incompetence of the Ministry of Local Government, Home Affairs, Police and Chieftainships, which still cannot issue Basotho with IDs and does not even bother explaining why.
Home Affairs spokesperson, ‘Marelebohile Mothibeli, recently told the Sunday Express that presently, they could not issue eligible Basotho with IDs. She was also non-committal about when they would start issuing the documents.
That’s a huge tragedy. A country that struggles to issue basic IDs to its citizens is a failed one. It cannot even properly identify who its citizens are.
Without the ID documents, the credibility of the new voter register compilation exercise will be in question. Again, what is infuriating is that Home Affairs Minister Lebona Lephema, does not see it fit to explain to the nation why his ministry cannot issue ID documents. That is arrogance at its peak.
Unless the issue is addressed urgently, the whole exercise will be a hoax. Many Basotho will be excluded from the process. And losers of elections will be gifted with a new opportunity to cry foul. This time round, they will be very right.
