Pretoria – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is back in Lesotho following Saturday’s elections.
The Deputy President arrived in Maseru on Wednesday in his capacity as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Facilitator to Lesotho.
The Deputy President’s spokesperson, Ronnie Mamoepa, said during the visit Ramaphosa is expected to pay a courtesy call on his Majesty King Letsie III, political role players as well as the chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Christian Council of Lesotho, Collage of Chiefs, Coalition of NGOs and senior officers of the Lesotho Defence Force and Lesotho Mounted Police.
Voters in Lesotho went to the polls on Saturday for an early election designed to end a political impasse in the kingdom.
The election was held about two years ahead of schedule under a political deal brokered by SADC.
The election was declared credible, free and fair by the various elections observer missions deployed in the country before and on the election day, namely SADC, the African Union, Commonwealth and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA).
Deputy President Ramaphosa had visited the country on the day of elections to bear witness to history and democracy in action during the voting processes. He visited four voting stations and the IEC Elections Results Centre.
The Deputy President is expected to observe the announcement of the final results today.
The elections were held in line with decisions of the SADC Troika of Heads of State and Government and facilitated by the SADC Observer Mission, led by Deputy President Ramaphosa, as an integral part of regional efforts to restore peace and stability in Lesotho.
Lesotho has been in political turmoil since June last year when Prime Minister Tom Thabane suspended Parliament to avoid a vote of no confidence that was being pushed by his coalition government partners. – SAnews.gov.za
