Mohalenyane Phakela
THE Movement for Economic Change (MEC) and Basotho Patriotic Party (BPP) are among political parties which have failed to account for campaign funds they were allocated by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) ahead of the October 2022 general elections.
The IEC has therefore given the MEC, the BPP and other political parties a seven-day ultimatum to submit their financial statements and reports or risk being sued by the electoral body.
Other parties that have failed to account for the funds are Yearn for Economic Sustainability (YES), Basotho Poverty Solutions Party (BPSP), African Ark (AA), Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP), Alliance for Free Movement (AFM), Development Party for ALL (DPA) and Basotho Social Party (BSP).
The Lesotho Times has seen letters dispatched to these nine political parties by the IEC lawyers, Shale Chambers, warning them about the need to account for the funds they received from the IEC.
According to Shale Chambers, while the IEC is mandated by section 70(4) of the National Assembly Electoral Act 2011 (NAEA) to allocate funds to all political parties registered with it for campaigning and payment of party agents, the beneficiaries are similarly bound by section 72(5) to account for such funds.
“Your party had to provide the client (IEC) with a financial statement and report of the use of funds within a period of three months after the end of the financial year (April 2023),” Shale Chambers wrote.
According to the letters, MEC was allocated M904 101.50 and failed to account for M415 886.69, BPP was allocated M493 082 and failed to account for M310 641.66, YES received M91 253.50 of which M62 964.92 remains unaccounted for. BPSP got M50 045.50 and did not account for M33 530.49, AA did not account for M63 735.04 of the M93 728 it was allocated, while MFP, AFM, DPA and BSP were allocated M436 875.50, M329 159, M91 758.50 and M73 376.50 respectively but failed to account for M371 344.18, M240 286.07, M85 335.41 and M40 357.08 correspondingly.
Shale Chambers has therefore threatened to drag the nine parties to court and demand legal damages on the highest scale if they do not submit the financial reports within seven days of receipt of the letters.
The IEC demand for accountability follows a September 2023 stern warning by IEC Director of Elections, Advocate Mpaiphele Maqutu, to political parties for failing to account for money they were allocated by the IEC to bankroll their campaigns.
Adv Maqutu promises to take the parties to task regardless of their size and status, warning they would not be receiving “not even a single cent” from the electoral body in future as a measure to enforce discipline and ensure compliance.
“Remember that as IEC, we look at all political parties the same. Rest assured, and I want this to come out clearly, that as the IEC, we will not hesitate to even take on the big guns if they do not comply. It is uniformity for all and allegiance to none. That is our motto here. So, we will treat everybody the same,” Adv Maqutu said.
Adv Maqutu said some members of society suspected that some political parties were formed for the primary purpose of self-enrichment through the acquisition of IEC funding.
