Maqelepo cracks the whip
… Calling off purported sports elections
NTHAKO MAJORO
MASERU – The Minister of Sports, Motlatsi Maqelepo, has rejected the elections for the Women in Sports Committee (WISC), and ordered that LSRC must first go to an elective conference, following which a new sports commission will enable WISC elections.
This was after LSRC member sport associations such as the Federation of DanceSport Lesotho (FEDALE, Lesotho Football Association (LeFA), Lesotho Netball Association (LNA) and Lesotho Weightlifting Federation (LWF) have filed written protests against LSRC’s plan to hold the said WISC’s elections.
LSRC was intending to hold WISC elections last Saturday.
Among others, FEDALE’s argument was that WISC’s elections did not conform to democratic electoral process.
FEDALE’s letter to LSRC’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, ’Malitsietsi Zwakala, reads in part: “FEDALE writes to strongly oppose the move to call Women in Sports Committee (WISC) elections because the call for purported elections does not conform to democratic electoral process.”
“Where on earth have you seen democratic elections being called within a period of three days?”
FEDALE said no roadmap was made to the purported WISC elections, and that no election guidelines were presented to the national associations.
“Which guidelines are you following that allow your office to call elections in three days’ period?
“Nomination of candidates to the purported elections when and where was it done, who nominated them, which platform was used for call of nominations?
“If these elections are called as a result of resolution made at the sitting of the commission, can your noble office furnish us with (the) minutes of the commission indicating clearly time, place and date of the sitting together with attendance list before the end of the day (May 7).”
FEDALE’s letter, singed of its president, Teboho Rakhomo, a former LSRC Public Relations Officer, is copied to Maqelepo, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Sports and Director of Sports, among others.
In a closed meeting which was held last Sunday, Maqelepo said it’s not practical for LSRC to push for WISC elections at this time when the commission itself is set for fresh elections.
The meeting was attended by the leadership of LSRC and of its member sport associations, including their partners, Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC).
“It is absolutely not practical to say this structure (WISC) must (also) go to the elections at this juncture,” said Maqelepo.
“My direction is that the elections that are supposed to be held should be the LSRC’s elections.”
He further said: “And immediately after the (LSRC) elections, people who will be in the office must ensure that this structure goes to the elections.”
Maqelepo also said that a new commission must make sure that WISC’s lack of rules and regulations would no longer exist immediately the LSRC’s fresh elections.
However, the minister said this was in addition to the fact that WISC has held office in an undemocratic manner.
At the same meeting, Maqelepo said even the Sports Commission’s tenure was actually coming to an end.
“All those in positions of authority, including the Prime Minister, are aware that elections are held periodically in democracies,” he said.
“And to be honest, considering when your committee was elected into power, it does not reflect democracy within sports at all.”
However, according to Maqelepo, those in positions of authority, such as the leadership of the LSRC, which includes him as the Minister of Sports, the parliament of Lesotho, and the Ministry of Sports, regrettably did not exercise that authority.
“You did not exercise your power when it was required of you in order to advise this committee to hold elections on a regular basis in accordance with principles of democracy,” he said
Back to the WISC’s issue, the minister expressed amazement that it could choose two female candidates for the Sports Commission’s elections, given that it is merely a structure and not an association.
“The fact that this structure chooses nominations for those two women in the committee partly surprises me,” he said.
During the same confidential meeting, the minister was also surprised to learn that the same principle applies to the nominations of sports associations during the confidential meeting.
“But if this is what also applies to the nominations of the associations, I must say I am still surprised,” he said.
However, the minister said he would let that to Commission and associations to work on it.
“However, I will let you work on it,” he said.
Maqelepo further accused the leadership of LSRC of not carrying out its true responsibility.
“The Commission’s functions are clearly stated in the law, and both the committee and you can see that we are not doing our job at all,” he said.
The minister said despite being a member of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC), Lesotho did not take advantage of the programs offered by this regional sports organization.
“AUSC is a regional structure to which we belong. We pay a lot of money to AUSC as Lesotho, and there are wonderful programmes and opportunities there that the country should take use of, but we don’t,” he said.
“I say this because I have also found out through AUSC that as Lesotho we are not doing anything.”
The minister told the gathering that he always felt embarrassed when he had to submit reports because they were not fulfilling their obligations.
“One of those doing anything is the Women in Sports Committee,” he said.
He further said: “Let us fulfill our responsibilities and take advantage of the numerous AUSC programmes, which include grassroots development, talent development, and high performance, among others, as well as the recreational side of it.”
Maqelepo’s intervention came after the same LSRC’s leadership tried to postpone the commission’s upcoming elective conference last month, of which was met with opposition.
The associations opposed to the decision, arguing that postponing the commission’s elective conference would be unlawful.
Following that opposition, the commission’s elective conference was scheduled for June 7 this year.
LSRC is the main government agency responsible for the development and coordination of sport and recreation in Lesotho.
