Members will be deployed to various parts of the country where they will observe the voting, counting and results procedures. File picture: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko.
THE COMMONWEALTH will deploy a team to observe the general elections in Lesotho, scheduled for October 7.
The group will be led by the former president of Seychelles, Danny Faure.
The Commonwealth secretary-general, Patricia Scotland QC, constituted the group following an invitation from the Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho. Members include a politician and media, gender and election administration experts from across the Commonwealth.
The secretary-general said: “I am grateful to His Excellency Danny Faure, and the whole group, for accepting my invitation. Our election observation work is hugely important, helping to safeguard and strengthen the process, culture and institutions of democracy across the Commonwealth.
“As the former president of Seychelles, His Excellency Danny Faure has led his country to a number of successes and has put his country at the forefront of innovation, technology and economic development. He is well placed to appreciate the issues at hand and to lead the team in Lesotho.
“The team is independent and impartial. It will assess the overall conduct of the election and will offer any recommendations needed to further strengthen the electoral process in Lesotho.”
The group will observe and consider factors affecting the credibility of the electoral process as a whole and consider the pre-election environment and election preparations.
Members will be deployed to various parts of the country where they will observe the voting, counting and results procedures.
The group will then write its report and recommendations which will be submitted for consideration by the Commonwealth secretary-general, and she will in turn share it with the Government of Lesotho and relevant stakeholders.
The group is expected to arrive in Maseru on September 30 and will be supported by Commonwealth Secretariat staff led by Abiola Sunmonu, adviser, and head of The Africa section in the Governance and Peace Directorate.
The Commonwealth Observer Group members are:
Chairperson: HE Danny Faure, former president of Seychelles.
Ms Blessings Tunoh Assom, Editor, Channels TV, Nigeria.
Hon Jacqueline Mohongayire, former senator, Rwanda.
Ms Terry Dale Ince, CEDAW, Gender and Human Rights advocate, Trinidad and Tobago.
Mr Paul O’Grady, executive director, Article 21 and former deputy head of OSCE Elections Missions, UK.
Mr Boniface Cheembe, executive director, Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, Zambia.
About The Commonwealth Observer Group
The Commonwealth has been observing electoral processes for over four decades. In that time, more than 160 elections have been observed in 40 countries.
Commonwealth Observer Groups (COGs) are independent and autonomous and will normally be chaired by a former head of government or senior political figure.
They are composed of eminent persons from a range of fields, including electoral commissioners, parliamentarians, legal experts, gender experts, human rights experts and media experts. Most COGs will also have a youth representative.