By Lwazi Dlamini
The election of Peter Ngwenya as Member of Parliament for the Ntondozi Inkhundla now faces scrutiny after secondary election contestant, Nhlanhla ‘Madida’ Mabuza filed a formal complaint with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) on Monday.
Ngwenya, according to the latest results from the EBC mobile application, had accumulated 2380 votes, beating his close competitor, Mabuza who attained 2190 votes. On Sunday, when the final voting counting had ended, Mabuza was paraded in social media platforms as the overall winner with 2190 votes, seen being hoisted high by members of his constituency in hyperbole celebrations, and plastered in local newspapers, only for the latest results to usher in Ngwenya as the overall winner with 2380 votes on Sunday morning.
The news of Ngwenya being the winner has not gone down well with some of the various chiefdoms under the Ntondozi Inkhundla which include Gebeni, Ntondozi, Ndinda, Khalangilile, Mphini, Ncabaneni, Ndlinilembi and Mphini. Some of the voters crammed Mabuza’s home on Sunday to find out what had happened and what had caused the voting results numbers to change.
ALSO READ: Peter Ngwenya’s elections results challenged at Ntondozi Inkhundla
The confusion on the results and winner has been playing itself out on the social media platforms after it turned out that votes from Gebeni Primary had not been included when the final voting was done on Saturday. With the inclusion of the votes from Gebeni Primary polling station, Ngwenya emerged as the winner.
On Monday, Mabuza approached the EBC head offices in Nkhanini to lodge a formal complaint. However, the Eswatini Daily News has also gathered that Ngwenya had also approached EBC officials to raise his concerns on Sunday.
In an interview on Monday, Mabuza confirmed that he had gone to Nkhanini to lay a formal complaint about the election results at Ntondozi Inkhundla. “They gave me a form which I have filled up because there is a lot of confusion now regarding the final results as they are now saying Gebeni Primary results had initially not been included when the final count was done. The EBC officials have told me to lodge the formal complaint using the form and they will then take it from there,” Mabuza said.
EBC Media Officer Mbonisi Bhembe could only confirm that both Ngwenya and Mabuza had come at different intervals to raise concerns about the election results at Ntondozi Inkhundla.
“They took the complaints forms and we are still waiting for them. In any case, the Parliament Petition Act is clear on what needs to happen if there is an issue like this one,” Bhembe said.
The Parliament Petition Act, 2013, Article 7 states that:
(1) – The election or appointment of a candidate as a Member shall not be questioned except on a petition presented to the court requesting that the election or appointment be declared void.
(2) The election or appointment of a candidate as a Member shall be declared void on any of the following grounds, which are proved to the satisfaction of the court, namely– 8 (a) that, because of corrupt practices or other circumstances, the majority of voters were or may have been prevented from electing the candidate they preferred; (b) subject to sections 10 and 13, that an offence in connection with the election was committed by the candidate; (c) subject to section 16, that there was a non-compliance with the Constitution and the Elections Act; (d) that the candidate was, at the time of the election or appointment of the candidate, a person not qualified, or was a person disqualified, for election or appointment as a Member. Who may present a petition? 8. A petition under this Part may, in terms of section 105(3) of the Constitution, be presented to the court by the Attorney-General, any Member or any aggrieved person. Time for presentation of the petition.
9. (1) A petition relating to the election of an elected Member shall be presented within fourteen calendar days from the date of publication of the result of the election under the provisions of section 69 of the Elections Act.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a petition questioning the election upon the ground of a corrupt practice and specifically alleging a payment of valuable consideration or any other act to have been made or done since the date referred to in subsection (1) by the Member whose election is questioned may, concerning that corrupt practice, be presented at any time within fourteen days after the payment or act.
(3) A petition relating to the appointment of a Member shall be presented within fourteen days from the date of publication, in the Gazette, of a notice by the Attorney-General of the appointment of the nominated Member.
(4) A petition presented in due time may, to question the nomination or the election upon an allegation of a corrupt or illegal practice or any other offence in connection with the election, be amended with the leave of the court within the time within which a petition, questioning the return or the election upon that ground, may be presented.
Social media has since Sunday morning, been abuzz as the Ntondozi Inkhundla folks questioned everything about the results with some even calling for a re-count.
