SECRET POLL NOMINATION EXPOSED

Times of Swaziland

8 August

Secret nominations exposed!

By MBONGENI NDLELA

PIGG’S PEAK – While the nominations for this year’s elections were conducted this past weekend in constituencies, some people were nominated on Wednesday.

The Luhhumaneni nominations had earlier on Sunday been stopped due to a chieftaincy dispute and the residents were not told when they would be conducted again that day.

Luhhumaneni is situated in the Northern Hhohho region near Pigg’s Peak.

Information gathered is that residents were only informed the previous day (Tuesday) about the nominations. The nominations were never publicised but instead certain individuals spread the information.

Some of the residents missed the nominations because they were at work.

They woke up on Thursday only to find candidates whom they had to vote for in the upcoming elections.

The nomination started around 10am with only less than 150 people.

Nominations

Present during the nominations were Pigg’s Peak DC Robert Dlamini, Magistrate Leo Dlamini, EBC’s Ncumbi Maziya and the preceding officer here Gugu Malinga, who was conducting the exercise.

According to some elders, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, Luhhumaneni has been hit hard by a long standing dispute.

"We are composed of two chiefs here and thus we have two codes. So how can we nominate candidates if this issue has not been resolved? We had thought the EBC would help us resolve the squabble over the rightful ownership of land here but instead the matter has been perpetrated to extent that illegal ways had to been done for the sake of the nomination exercise," said an elderly man.

At the time of compiling this report, it could not be established who were nominated.

...it was a correction of an error – EBC

PIGG’S PEAK – Mzwandile Fakudze, vice chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, has said the nomination was just a correction of an error.

He said this error had been caused by the tension which was created by the residents during the first nomination.

In a telephonic interview yesterday, the vice chairman said it was the community’s decision to go for another nomination exercise despite that they had already nominated in the previous nominations. "Sunday’s scuffle forced us to defer nominations here," he said.

He said when a team has 11 players and the other has seven, the game should be cancelled to give space for the other team to reorganise itself. When further probed if the community was informed about Wednesday’s nomination, Fakudze said the community members should have been responsible in informing the residents here about the exercise.

Link http://www.times.co.sz/News/460.html