Dialogue - an EISA tradition

EISA has an organisational history of encouraging dialogue and stakeholder consultation in an effort to promote effective engagement in democratic processes. The local governance programme embraces this tradition.

Lesotho Local Government Elections Conference

Lesotho held Local Government elections on 30 April 2005. At the time of the workshops, Lesotho had no system of elected local government authorities and had not had local government elections since 1960.

The Lesotho Ministry of Local Government and EISA hosted a dialogue conference on 10 March in Maseru. The conference was officially opened by the Honourable Minister of Local Government Dr M.P. Sekatle. The purpose of the conference was to bring Basotho stakeholders together, provide background on local government process and create a platform for dialogue in preparation for the local elections.

Participants included political parties, principal chiefs, the media, faith-based organisations, embassies and the Ministry of Local Government.