Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Lesotho Times
Published on 2024-04-18 17:42:40
The Labour Appeal Court has issued a ruling ordering the reinstatement of Tuoe Hantṧi, the Public Relations Manager of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) who was dismissed in August last year. The court found that the disciplinary process leading to his dismissal was flawed and ordered that it be started afresh, with Hantṧi being allowed legal representation throughout the process.
Despite the court’s order, Hantṧi was not present at work when the order was issued, according to correspondence between the IEC and his lawyer, Advocate Tṧolo Kalake. Kalake sought clarification on when Hantṧi was expected to resume his duties as per the court order. The IEC, in response, stated that the correspondence was misdirected to the IEC chairperson and requested that it be redirected to the Director of Elections, Mpaiphele Maqutu.
There was some confusion regarding the implementation of the court order, as the IEC had issued a statement indicating that Hantṧi would be returning to work and that the disciplinary process would be restarted from scratch. However, this was not the case, leading to further legal proceedings and appeals.
Hantṧi had been dismissed following a dispute with Adv Maqutu, where he was accused of gross insubordination. Despite previous court orders to reinstate him, the IEC had refused to do so, leading to a contempt of court application by Hantṧi against several IEC officials.
After a series of legal proceedings and appeals, including an urgent appeal by the IEC to stay the execution of the court order, the Labour Appeal Court eventually upheld the ruling that the disciplinary proceedings should be started afresh with Hantṧi’s legal representation.
With the appeal set aside, the contempt of court proceedings against the IEC officials will proceed, although it is unclear if Hantṧi will continue to pursue this litigation. The situation remains unresolved as the IEC grapples with the reinstatement of Hantṧi and the legal implications of the court’s orders.
Read the original article on Lesotho Times
