Moneni Royal Kraal asks for restart

MANZINI - Moneni Royal Kraal has written a letter of complaint to the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) requesting that the Primary Elections in the chiefdom be started afresh.

The royal kraal wrote the letter following complaints that were reported by some of the community’s nominees of the umphakatsi concerning the Primary Elections and it was submitted to the EBC on Monday.

The letter asks the EBC to nullify the voting exercise that took place on Saturday.
They want the elections to be started afresh because they alleged that three candidates ‘bought’ textile workers to vote for them, among other things.
Former Member of Parliament (MP) Thandi Nxumalo won the Primary Elections by 351 votes and was followed by former national team goalkeeper Christopher ‘Toto’ Khoza with 324 votes.

The letter alleged that most of the votes that the trio obtained were rigged as they started campaigning before the Primary Elections, which was against the law. “Pre-campaigning also took place at Moneni which was unlawful on our side, hence all votes were rigged.”
“As elders of Moneni, we kindly ask that all the votes be nullified and the Primary Elections be started afresh because most of the voters were from textile firms not from Moneni.” reads part of the letter.

Transported

The royal kraal also alleged that most voters were transported by certain public transport vehicles operating between Manzini and Matsapha Industrial Sites.
They alleged that concerns were raised with the presiding officers and to the police officers who were at the polling station on Saturday during the Primary Elections. It is alleged that they were told that there was nothing wrong.

“It became obvious to the residents that the presiding officer was not neutral on issues raised by the nominees. The concerns were also raised even before the start of the counting process to the presiding officer,” the letter alleged.
It also alleged that the nominees noted that there was a huge turnout but the actual number of votes per category were far less even after adding the spoiled ballot papers.

One of the aspiring MPs, who was interviewed yesterday, alleged that most of the voters from textile firms went around asking where the polling station was and after voting they asked for directions leading them to the bus stop at the main road to Manzini.

EBC Public Relations Officer (PRO) Sabelo Dlamini confirmed that they received a letter of complaint from Moneni Royal Kraal on Monday.
This is not the first elections complaint to be received by the EBC as previously, a section of voters from Manzini North registered their complaints and mentioned that they want their former MP disqualified for allegedly bringing strangers to vote for him at Makholweni. 

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