A law full of manure

So the IEC has punished the RFP’s Lephema Lebona for allegedly buying votes in Teya-Teyaneng. His crime, according to those who dragged him to the IEC’s tribunal, is that he promised to build a mall and give jobs during the election campaign.

Lebona has been fined M3 000 for his alleged transgression.

Muckraker will tell you without fear or doubt that those who made that decision were either high on something illegal or have a small piece of pig manure in their heads or were simply confused like cockroaches flipped on their backs. Here is why.

Every politician in this election promised something to the voters.

They all promised to deal with unemployment, poverty and corruption.

One was distributing makoenya while the other dished out blankets and money to villagers.

None of those who promised jobs have created a single job in their lives. The only job they wanted to create was theirs in parliament.

We had unemployed politicians promising to rain jobs on voters. Job seekers promising jobs.

Politicians who cannot feed themselves were threatening to end hunger. Yet none of them was punished.

Instead, the IEC tribunal went after Lebona who has created jobs and built something.

Who is more likely to create a job, someone who owns a multimillion maloti company or some church mouse of a politician pleading for a job in parliament?

There is no evidence that he was lying. After all, he had created something before.

What have those who complained to the IEC built in their lives?

And since when has vote-buying become illegal in Lesotho? It happens all the time.

But that is not what gets Muckraker’s goat.

You see, our electoral law is a pathetic joke. It punishes people who make promises to voters during the campaigns but doesn’t deal with those who fail to deliver on their promises.

So an elected politician can make promises, get elected and then pretend as if he didn’t make any promises.

In other words, elected politicians are allowed to lie when in government but aspiring MPs are not.

Muckraker thought common sense was common. But, alas, it’s a rare commodity.

Nka! Ichuuuuuuuuuuu!

muckraker.post@gmail.com