Times Of Swaziland: LUTFO CRIES SABOTAGE, THREATS, BLAMES EBC

LUTFO CRIES SABOTAGE, THREATS, BLAMES EBC
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Themba Zwane on 29/08/2023 08:52:00


PIGG’S PEAK – Losing the primary elections has been a bitter pill to swallow
for outgoing Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini.
The seasoned former Cabinet minister said he could have easily won the 2023
General Elections at primary elections level if his race for a Parliament seat
was not sabotaged.  He also blamed the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC)
for not taking action on what he termed glaring irregularities and intimidation
of voters during the process.
Trusted
The erstwhile minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation informed
this publication that the people of Nkamanzi had voted for an individual whom
they trusted to help the community. He said he would now communicate the needs
of the community to the winning candidate in the event he won the secondary
elections. “As a stalwart of the Tinkhundla (System) and in particular of
Ndzingeni Inkhundla, I stand ready to guide and support the eventual winner
should he need my help. As a seasoned politician, I decided to ignore the
threats to voters that went around Nkamanzi during the primary elections, to the
effect that whoever would vote for Lutfo Dlamini would have his or her home
burnt. It was the duty of the EBC to address this, but in their wisdom they
ignored it,” he alleged.
Dlamini recalled that a few months back, unknown arsonists torched Nkamanzi
Umphakatsi and there were no arrests subsequent to that incident. The former MP
alleged that during the last EBC chiefdoms’ civic and voter education
exercise, some residents attended the exercise and said the Tinkhundla-based
elections must be stopped, also uttering unsavoury things about the Tinkhundla
System of Government. He alleged that the EBC had records of this. “Later, the
group opted to join the elections to deal with Tinkhundla inside Parliament. The
move to discredit Lutfo started with threats to burn homesteads of those
supporting him. Even during the voting exercise, the same groups were moving up
and down, making threats. EBC did nothing to manage the situation,” he
alleged. Meanwhile, the EBC Communications Officer, Mbonisi Bhembe, said the
elections were guided by legislation.
Complaining
“There are laws on how to deal with everything pertaining to the elections. I
would better understand if the outgoing MP was complaining about an instance
where we had deviated from the statutes guiding elections,” said Bhembe. The
communications officer added that he would have better understood if Dlamini was
complaining about the results. He also advised the former MP to follow proper
channels and lodge a complaint with the EBC for the matter to be looked into. 
The eventual winner under Nkamanzi Chiefdom was Bhekithemba Magagula.
Magagula is a teacher at Ekubongeni High School.  He won the primary elections
after he amassed a total of 760 votes. Dlamini was the runner-up with 551 votes.
Nimrod Msibi claimed third place after accumulating 101 votes. Sibusiso Mkhonta
and Sibusiso Magagula obtained 66 and 9 votes respectively.