Mohalenyane Phakela

HIGH Court Judge Thamsanqa Nomngcongo has called for government action to “sanitise” what he describes as the “gutter social media”.

Justice Nomngcongo said this while delivering judgement in murder-accused former First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane’s bail application on Monday. While granting ‘Maesaiah bail, Justice Nomngcongo said he would not be swayed by public opinion on the case.

Although he did not make any specific references to what was being said about him  on social media platforms over his handling of the bail application,  the social media had been awash with claims that the judge  had delayed his verdict because he was in negotiations with the Thabane family to free ‘Maesaiah on bail.

The claims were made last week after Justice Nomngcongo failed to deliver the verdict on 22 June 2020 and again on the 23rd and 27^th of June due to ill-health.

Some social media users then accused the judge of delaying the verdict to negotiate a bribe from the Thabane family in exchange for freeing ‘Maesaiah.

“They should give Thamsanqa his balance so that he can wrap up his work,” one Facebook user posted.

Another Facebook user wrote, “the law department (judiciary) is captured” in response to a post by another user who had said that the verdict could not be delivered because Justice Nomngcongo was sick.

Even after the verdict was delivered on Monday, many people who were unhappy with the granting of bail took to social media to accuse Justice Nomngcongo of receiving bribes to rule in her favour.

While delivering his judgement on Monday, Justice Nomngcongo said although the public had a right to their views, he had “no regard for the gutter social media which has no interest in the truth and justice which the petitioner has come here to seek”.

“Theirs (social media users) is just to paddle salacious matters,” said Justice Nomngcongo.

“Like sewer rats, I think those rats in the gutter that paddle this misinformation must be sanitised. I am making a call to those responsible. You must sanitise the gutter social media,” Justice Nomngcongo said.

His comments have attracted even more criticism from social media users who view them as an attempt to muzzle robust public debate on important issues.

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• but family tensions continue as Potlako slates sister and son as “enemies within” 

Mohalenyane Phakela

FORMER First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane was feted like a hero upon her release on bail on Tuesday by family members including stepson, Potlako Thabane, and hordes of opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD) members including its secretary general, Mahali Phamotse.

In a thinly veiled attack on his sister, ‘Mabatšoeneng Hlaele (nee Nkoya Thabane,) and his own son Thomas Thabane Jr, Potlako asked those gathered at ‘Maesaiah’s Hillsview home in Maseru to pray for the duo and the entire Thabane family. He said the war for ‘Maesaiah’s freedom was far from over because of “enemies within”.

Although the bail was granted by High Court Judge Thamsanqa Nomngcongo on Monday evening, ‘Maesaiah was only released the next day after paying the M10 000 bail deposit. Her bail conditions were also read out to her on Tuesday by Maseru Senior Resident Magistrate Thamae Thamae.

The court proceedings were conducted in the absence of family members and the public in line with health regulations barring large gatherings to prevent the spread of the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19). Only lawyers, court officials and the media were allowed to attend the proceedings.

Upon arrival at her Hillsview home on Tuesday, ‘Maesaiah was given a rapturous welcome by hordes of well-wishers who included Potlako, Dr Phamotse and Stadium Area legislator Mokherane Tsatsanyane.

A fortnight ago, Mr Tsatsanyane dumped the Thomas Thabane-led All Basotho Convention (ABC), saying he remained loyal to Mr Thabane who was ousted by his own party from the post of prime minister last month.

The flamboyant MP even organised a convoy of luxury cars and superbikes which hooted and performed stunts from the Maseru prison where ‘Maesaiah had been incarcerated right up to her nearby Hillsview home. In a clear demonstration of the fissures in the ABC, only two of its legislators, well-known Thabane loyalists Lehlohonolo Moramotse (Lithoteng constituency) and Samonyane Ntsekele (Tsikoane) attended ‘Maesaiah’s ceremony.

The normally vivacious former first lady hardly said a word. Resplendent in a black and white sweater with a blanket draped around her waist, she stood at the doorway of her garage and quietly soaked in the adulation. Potlako, a son of Mr Thabane from his first marriage, later told the gathering that she was tired and she should therefore be spared from addressing them.

Mr Potlako then asked everyone to pray for his sister Nkoya and his son, Thomas Thabane Jr. The duo strenuously opposed ‘Maesaiah’s bail application, describing her as a dangerous killer who could still organise hits on witnesses to prevent them from testifying against her.

However, Potlako filed an affidavit in support of his step-mother, saying she was a loving wife who should be released to care for their nonagenarian father who he said was terminally ill. He said Nkoya abandoned Mr Thabane last year in anger over the dismissal of her husband, Lebohang Hlaele, from cabinet in February 2019. Mr Hlaele served as Law and Constitutional Affairs minister before he was fired by Mr Thabane for supporting Professor Nqosa Mahao for the deputy leadership of the ABC.

Potlako asked those in attendance to pray for their family as the war “was far from over because of enemies within”.

“We thank you for your prayers as you can see that ‘M’e (‘Maesaiah) is home. She has asked to be excused from addressing you because she is tired.

“It was not an easy journey for my father who spend almost a month without his wife. However, this is a start of another journey.

“It is more painful that the enemy comes from within. Please pray for my sister (Nkoya) and my son (Thabane Jr) for them to remember that they are still members of the Thabane family,” Potlako said.

Dr Phamotse, a former Minister of Justice and Correctional Services in Mr Thabane’s government, thanked God for the safe return of ‘Maesaiah and said the AD would always support her.

“I have been a minister in charge of that place (prisons) and I know it’s not a place one would wish to spend time at. I can imagine what you went through and we thank God that you are still well. As you know the AD has always been by your side, visiting you in that place. I promise that we will continue to be by your side and we hope this release means the end of this traumatising thing,” Dr Phamotse said. Until last month, the Monyane Moleleki-led AD was in government alongside Mr Thabane’s ABC, Thesele ‘Maseribane’s Basotho National Party (BNP) and Keketso Rantšo’s Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL).

However, the ABC’s national executive committee resolved to exclude the AD from its new coalition with the Democratic Congress on the grounds that it had opposed the ABC’s moves to oust Mr Thabane. The BNP and RCL have been included in the new government and their leaders rewarded with cabinet appointments. Dr Phamotse was once dressed down by ‘Maesaiah at a function at Sesotho Stadium after she was accused of disrespecting Mr Thabane while he was still premier. However, the new spirit of camaraderie displayed this week showed the hatchet has been buried.

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• as ‘Maesaiah is granted bail 

Mohalenyane Phakela

MURDER-ACCUSED former First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane has been released on M10 000 bail by High Court Judge Thamsanqa Nomngcongo in a hard-hitting judgement which pokes holes into the case against her and former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane.

In granting bail, Justice Nomngcongo ruled that the Director of Public Prosecutions, (DPP) Advocate Hlalefang Motinyane, had failed to exercise her constitutional right to oppose the bail. He said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Paseka Mokete, who deposited an application on behalf of DPP Motinyane, had no right to do so.

In a potentially huge setback to the state case, Justice Nomngcongo also said DCP Mokete’s and other witnesses’ affidavits were full of hearsay. He said they did not provide any substantive evidence linking ‘Maesaiah and her husband Mr Thabane to the 14 June 2017 murder of the latter’s ex-wife, Lipolelo.

‘Maesaiah was sent to remand prison on 3 June 2020 after the Court of Appeal revoked her bail over the Lipolelo murder. She has also been charged with the attempted murder of Thato Sibolla, who was travelling with Lipolelo on the night she was gunned down. Ms Sibolla escaped with gunshot wounds and is one of the witnesses whose affidavits against ‘Maesaiah’s bail application was dismissed by Justice Nomngcongo.

Mr Thabane has been slapped with the same charges but he is yet to be arrested and formally charged after his ouster as prime minister. He had earlier won a referral to the Constitutional Court for determination of whether or not he can be charged as a sitting PM.

Justice Nomngcongo seized upon the police’s failure to arrest and charge him as an indication that they have no solid case against him and his name had been “dropped (into the case) just for drama”.

‘Maesaiah was initially granted bail by Acting Chief Justice ‘Maseforo Mahase on 5 February 2020 but this was revoked by the Court of Appeal on 29 May 2020 after Ms Sibolla and Mr Thabane’s grandson, Thomas Thabane Jr argued that it was unprocedurally granted.

She launched a fresh application after she was jailed following the revocation of her bail.

In granting her bail on Monday, Justice Nomngcongo said the DPP had failed to oppose the bail on two occasions. He said ‘Maesaiah had sought bail on the two charges of murder and attempted murder. The court did not consider the new ‘conspiracy to murder’ charge she was slapped with this month.

He said in applying for bail, ‘Maesaiah had “reacted swiftly…on the understanding of the charges put to her” after she was incarcerated.

“There was no common purpose or conspiracy to murder but simply murder and attempted murder charges,” Justice Nomngcongo said.

“The matter went before Acting Chief Justice (on 5 February 2020) who, without opposition from the prosecuting authority, granted bail. That application which was sought before Justice Mahase was not opposed, and I repeat, was not opposed by the DPP and that is the record of the appeal court when the matter was taken for review.

“It went on review because there were interested parties dissatisfied with the decision to grant bail without opposition from the DPP. When the matter went on review, the DPP opposed those who were seeking rescission of the acting chief justice’s decision. In other words, the DPP said, ‘Chief Justice you were correct to grant the petitioner bail so I oppose the interveners who say you should not have granted the petitioner bail’.

“She (DPP Motinyane) was in agreement that the petitioner was rightly granted bail. It will be observed that before the acting chief justice, the DPP did not oppose bail and it was granted. She had an opportunity then to say ‘I do not want bail to be granted’ but she agreed to the bail being granted. When those (Ms Sibolla and others) sought to intervene she (DPP) said ‘it was uncalled for’.

“The question that now arises is when did the DPP turn around and say ‘I now oppose bail’? …On two occasions she had the opportunity to oppose bail but did not…When did the opposition come? Did it come after the decision of Court of Appeal? The office of the DPP is an important office vested with extremely important authority to initiate prosecution in terms of Section 99 (of the constitution) and it is that office alone vested with such powers it cannot be delegated to anyone…”

Justice Nomngcongo said DCP Mokete had no legal authority to institute proceedings on behalf of the DPP. He said in any case DCP Mokete’s affidavit was filled with hearsay allegations. He also said Ms Sibolla had failed to link ‘Maesaiah to the crime.

“In these proceedings we have an affidavit of one Deputy Commissioner of Police, Paseka Mokete. He was opposed to bail being granted while at the same time the DPP held other views. There was such acrimony as to whether bail should be granted or not. In one of her affidavits, the DPP says that the matter had to be settled by negotiation between herself and DCP Mokete.

“DCP Mokete has no business deciding whether or not to prosecute anyone. It is solely the responsibility of the DPP. It does seem, in this matter, that the responsibility was not taken seriously by the DPP. She left it in the hands of DCP Mokete who says that he opposed bail. So, it was not the decision of the DPP to oppose bail.

“What we hear here are the depositions of Mokete. There are allegations that the petitioner (‘Maesaiah) is prone to violence. It is said that she attacked somebody in some medical institution but mind you that somebody has not sworn to any affidavit.

“Other people who say that we must not release the applicant on bail include Thato Sibolla who was a victim when the crimes were allegedly perpetrated. She is unable to point to anyone who actually perpetrated these crimes upon her or the deceased. She is unable to say what happened there. She says all she knows about this is that the petitioner and Lipolelo were not on good terms.

“DCP Mokete says she (‘Maesaiah) paid certain sums of money to certain assassins and who these assassins are, we don’t know. He talks about six suspects. There is one suspect he is fond of referring to and that is the former prime minister (Mr Thabane). I think his name is dropped in just for drama because if he were a suspect, Mokete would have arrested him because the immunity that Mokete says he (Mr Thabane) claimed has long perished with his resignation and there is no such immunity. He is not being prosecuted before us and there are all these named suspects that Mokete says will be or might be extradited. When that will happen, no one knows.

“We have a lot of hearsay evidence brought before us by Mokete. There is nothing tangible brought before me to say that I should not grant the petitioner bail. The opposition is based on emotions. The petitioner is said to have approached a crown witness to assist her to murder her former husband (Joachim Ferreira) in order to enter into marriage with the second suspect Thomas Thabane. This crown witness is not named. Because it is alleged that she wanted to murder the former husband, then it means she murdered the deceased. That is not the reasoning with which we approach these matters.

“It is also said that not only did the petitioner have the ability to pay assassins to kill people but she also paid people not to divulge her involvement in the heinous crime. This is emotional language. Who has convicted the petitioner of these so-called heinous crimes? What evidence do we have of anything heinous here? There is no evidence that she even pulled the trigger and killed this person but people bravely say that she shot and killed Lipolelo. You do not make a wild statement like that without presenting the facts.”

Justice Nomngcongo then ruled he did not find any reason not to grant ‘Maesaiah bail because when she was initially granted bail, she obeyed all her bail conditions including attending remands.

“The petitioner was granted bail and she was free for four months. She attended remands. Did she, in those four months, commit any heinous crimes? No. Did she escape this jurisdiction or try to run away? No. When the matter was taken for review at the Court of Appeal, she was still within this jurisdiction but had just gone out for medical purposes to South Africa. She promptly returned and handed herself to the police. She did not run or threaten the witnesses for four months. Why would she do that now?”

“The petitioner has asked me to release her on bail on certain conditions and nothing has been said really against those conditions. I accordingly grant her bail on those conditions which are that she pays a deposit of M10 000, reports to the police every fortnight and notifies police whenever she travels beyond the borders of Lesotho. She should not interfere with crown witnesses and she must attend remands and stand trial to finality,” Justice Nomngcongo ruled.

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Moses Magadza

WINDHOEK – Covid-19 is a global public health challenge but in Africa the malady has metamorphosed into an “economic pandemic” requiring bold and innovative parliamentary responses, SADC Members of Parliament have been told.

Mr Deprose Muchena, the Regional Director at Amnesty International Regional Office for Southern Africa, said this when he addressed SADC Members of Parliament on Tuesday. The MPs belong to the Standing Committee on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment (TIFI) of the SADC Parliamentary Forum. Their Committee met virtually.

Muchena’s presentation focused on the role of parliament in mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on the trade and business environment for the SADC Region.

“While the globe is dealing with a health pandemic, Africa in general and Southern Africa in particular, will be dealing with an economic pandemic,” he warned.

He said the impact of global and local measures to respond to Covid-19 that include economic and social lockdowns to stem the spread of the virus, declarations of states of emergency or curfews had begun causing “significantly biting consequences”.

He explained: “In Southern Africa we had six states of emergency declarations and some curfews. Most countries imposed lockdown measures which took a public health approach which usually leaves behind accompanying measures that respond to unintended consequences of the crisis.”

Turning to the intersection between Covid-19 and poverty, Muchena said global projections were that the pandemic would push an additional one billion people – 20 per cent of them due to related income cuts – into poverty.

He added: “In Sub-Saharan Africa, additional 44, 6 million people will go into poverty … There will not be consumption capacity for most people.”

On trade, he said, expectations were that there would be a global trade fall of up to 27 per cent in the third quarter of the year 2020, according to the United Nations. For Southern Africa, the trade fall will mean less business with trading partners including those in the global north due to low demand for goods and services.

“This is serious because it has a triple impact on trade flows, trade volumes and income for Southern Africa,” he said, adding that cross-border trade would not be spared.

Amnesty International reckons that informal cross-border trade accounts for between USD17 billion and USD20 billion per annum and so if cross-border informal traders are unable to move and do business, the impact on household incomes would be dire.

Muchena said: “Informal trade generates about 70 per cent of jobs in Africa. The formal economy is very small. This Committee must zero in on what has happened in the informal sector in Southern Africa because that’s where we have lost income connected to households.”

Turning to supply chains, Muchena said Covid-19 had been “severely” disruptive and urged MPs to brace for the “long haul” towards recovery.

He noted: “There were also pre-existing conditions. Covid-19 arrived in Africa when we already had food insecurity, malnutrition and many of our children affected by conflict … Thirty-four million people are affected by extreme weather conditions.”

On food security, Muchena said the World Food Programme  (WFP) had released data showing that “hunger and poverty stalks about 40 million people in Southern Africa” due to the coronavirus and “drought-induced climate shocks”.

Although some governments in Africa had come up with various packages to support those affected by Covid-19, Muchena said many of those safety nets had “been largely meaningful to large business formal entities” while leaving the informal sector in limbo.

He said: “That calls for an examination of the adequacy of our stimulus responses and whether, in fact, the models of our economies are sufficiently pro-poor.”

Three of the 10 top performing economies in Africa are in the SADC Region. They are Angola, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania. Muchena said the 10 were expected to go into recession later this year due to declines in economic activity and aggregate Gross Domestic Product.

“Therefore, the ability to deal with existing problems of unemployment, poverty and inequality in 2021 is going to be difficult.”

The Committee agreed on the need for parliaments to build capacity to stem corruption and illicit outflows of money from the continent through, inter alia, trade mispricing, over-pricing of imports and under-pricing of exports.

There was agreement, also, on the need for parliaments to use their oversight mandate to ensure prudent use of resources earmarked for responding to Covid-19.

Many countries in the SADC Region and in Africa are heavily indebted to global financial institutions. The Committee agreed on the need for parliaments to unite in calling for a debt moratorium while building a regional response to Covid-19 in collaboration with civil society organisations.

The jury is still out with respect to what form the global economy will take post-Covid-19. Nevertheless, the Committee urged national parliaments to remain vigilant in case there were major shifts that can affect exports. Additionally, parliaments were urged to strengthen the monitoring of the implementation of TRIPS flexibilities to facilitate access to medicines.

Muchena said Covid-19 caught many African governments financially unprepared to cope with it. In many countries ventilators, hospital beds and other medical equipment were inadequate.

The Committee agreed that parliaments must ensure that their countries act prudently should they have to borrow to cope with and recover from Covid-19.

African parliaments, according to Muchena, must be deeply concerned about the “fragility” of their economies and how they can adapt to a “fairly new, restructured and completely different global economy” after Covid-19. He warned that nothing would be the same again.

As many countries plead for and raise resources to dig out of Covid-19, there was unanimity within the Committee that parliaments’ oversight function be strengthen so that resources raised in the name of the poor actually reach the intended beneficiaries.

Zimbabwean lawmaker Anele Ndebele was elected chairperson of the TIFI Committee. He said Covid-19 was ravaging economies and pledged bold parliamentary oversight.

“The pandemic threatens the socio-economic welfare of our region in that it has negatively impacted commerce, trade and industry and has virtually killed economic activities, especially those of small scale businesses, which form the bulk of our local people in our respective countries.”

He challenged MPs to think “outside the box”.

“We are expected to exert enough influence on our governments to ensure that any legislative and budgetary interventions put in place, are done with utmost prudence, transparency and accountability,” he said.

Ndebele’s predecessor, Honorable Egbert Aglae from Seychelles, called for a “holistic” response to Covid-19.

He said fixing battered and weakened economies “may require a holistic approach which involves multiple measures that are neither popular nor tested, but which are nonetheless necessary to save the situation.”

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By Moses Magadza

WINDHOEK- Members of Parliament who belong to the Standing Committee on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment (TIFI) of the SADC Parliamentary Forum are calling for concerted and coordinated action towards macroeconomic convergence within the SADC Region.

They made the call when their Committee met virtually this week under the theme: ‘The Role of Parliament in mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on the trade and business environment for the SADC Region.’

They noted with concern that Covid-19 and associated travel restrictions that Member States imposed in the second quarter of 2020 had severely impacted on trade flows and business. They agreed that in the face of depressed economic activities dramatized in some instances by panic buying, unpredictability and loss of employment, the need for parliaments to provide leadership was more pressing now than ever.

SADC adopted a Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2015-2020) for macroeconomic convergence. It is premised on economic indicators that include rates of inflation, economic growth rates and unemployment to bring about economic growth and sustainable development.

As the Committee held its meeting on Monday, it became apparent that inequalities and exclusion from sustainable regional economic growth and longer term sustainable opportunities to attract Foreign Direct Investment to the SADC Region were jinxing socioeconomic development and efforts towards much-needed industrialisation.

The Deputy Chairperson of the TIFI Committee, Honorable Tsepang Tsita Moseta from Lesotho, recommended that regular updates be provided to MPs on progress or otherwise as the SADC Region seeks macroeconomic convergence.

She suggested that TIFI Members be copied in when the SADC Secretariat communicates with national parliaments through the Office of the Clerk on work done by the TIFI Committee. This, she argued, would prevent a situation in which some MPs would be “totally ignorant of what’s happening”.

A lawmaker from Botswana, Honorable Dumelang Saleshando concurred and said a culture of reporting against set timelines would keep the region’s parliaments focused.

He said: “It may be necessary to agree on a timeline on which we want MPs to report back on progress to ensure that resolutions are implemented in our respective parliaments.”

Honorable Hlengiwe Octavia Mkaliphi from South Africa called for “well-coordinated” activities and suggested that Chief Whips of political parties be kept well informed of resolutions made by the TIFI Committee so that they support implementation.

Ms. Trudi Hartzenberg, the Executive Director of Trade Law Centre NPC (TRALAC) joined the meeting. She said it was “extremely appropriate” that MPs were keen to know how far the SADC Region had moved towards macroeconomic convergence.

“Covid-19 has shone a spotlight on some of the challenges we face in terms of our over-reliance on imports of essential goods, medicines and food supplies for our food security,” Hartzenburg said.

She said the monitoring role of the SADC PF which brings together 15 SADC Member States could never be overemphasised.

“The SADC PF is uniquely positioned – from a regional perspective – to have oversight of what is happening in our communities. Covid-19 has enabled countries to realise how interconnected they are,” she said.

She added: “If one country faces significant challenges or adopts a motion to close its border posts, for example, that immediately impacts neighbouring countries. Therefore, the issue of macroeconomic convergence has to be a regional focus.”

Outgoing Chairperson of the TIFI Standing Committee, Honourable Egbert Aglae from Seychelles (pictured above), officially opened and chaired the meeting. He called for enhanced parliamentary leadership as the world grapples with Covid-19.

“Parliaments act as agents of social transformation and are to be directly involved to facilitate social change through robust legislative, policy, budgetary and oversight action,” he said.

He enjoined SADC national parliaments “to be pro-active rather than reactive” and share experiences to better contextualise COVID-19 related parliamentary responses.

He noted: “The SADC economies rely on a variety of sectors and industries, ranging from textile industry, handicraft, tourism, mining, global business, agriculture, financial services etc. While all sectors have been hit by COVID-19, there will be no one-size-fits-all formula for all SADC Member States since every economy has its own specificities.”

SADC PF Secretary General Ms Boemo Sekgoma briefed the Committee on efforts to deepen and broaden collaboration between the Forum and TRALAC, especially on developing a SADC Model Law on the digital economy.

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Bereng Mpaki

THE government must by 5 August 2020 pay former principal secretaries whose gratuities it had withheld to settle their government guaranteed personal loans which they had not finished servicing by the time they left in 2017.

The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that withholding the former PSs’ gratuities to service the outstanding loans was unconstitutional.

Justice Moroke Mokhesi delivered the judgement.

Former government secretary (GS), Lebohang Ramohlanka, who is now the deputy speaker of the National Assembly; principal secretaries Majakathata Mokuena Thakhisi (Ministry of Development Planning); ‘Mapitso Panyane (Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship); ‘Mapaseka Kolotsane (Ministry of Education and Training); ‘Mapulumo Mosisili (Ministry of Labour and Employment); had dragged the government to court for discriminating against them by withholding their gratuities to settle their M500 000 interest free loans.

The applicants were represented by former Attorney General, Advocate Tšokolo Makhethe, with the government deciding not to oppose the case, which was filled last November. The matter was heard in March this year.

The Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Ministry of Finance PS, the principal officer of the Specified Offices Defined Contribution Pension Fund, the Specified Offices Defined Contribution Pension Fund and the Attorney General were the first to sixth respondent respectively.

According to the 2017/18 audit report, the former PSs had not yet settled M4 585 711 for the same financial year.

The applicants, whose employment ended in September 2017 upon the change of government, had in 2015 been engaged by the 2015’s seven-parties’ coalition government led by form prime minister Pakalitha Mosisili. They were engaged in three-year contracts which would be terminated once the ruling government’s reign ended.

Among other things, their contracts contained standard terms which provided that:

• “The incumbent shall be eligible to take an interest free loan of up to M500 000 for which the government of Lesotho will act as a guarantor;
• The contract of the person engaged (i.e. the applicants) shall automatically terminate before its expiry if the tenure of office of government which appointed him or her came to an end;
• That in the event government came to an end before its five year term, the applicants would be entitled to tax free gratuity at the rate of 25 percent at the end of every two years of service or prorated to the time severed if she/he leave office as stipulated in the Specified Offices Defined Contribution Pension Fund Act as amended.”

However, after settling the PSs loans with their respective banks, former premier Thomas Thabane’s 2017 coalition government decided to recoup those funds by garnishing the PSs gratuities.

The government’s decision was announced through a January 2018 letter written by the then principal secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Nthoateng Lebona, directing the Public Officers’ Defined Contribution Pension Fund to transfer all monies deducted from the PSs gratuities into the government’s account in order to clear the outstanding balances.

“The government decided that the amounts settled on behalf of PSs be recovered through their gratuities. You are therefore, kindly requested to transfer the gratuities of the former PSs as per attached schedule to the following bank details and please send proof of payment to the Ministry of Finance,” Ms Lebona said in the letter.

But justice Mokhesi said the government’s decision was discriminatory as the PSs were not the only beneficiaries of the loan facility who have been incapacitated by the premature collapse of the government.

“It is declared that the government’s decision… to recover from the applicants the amount of money it (government) had paid to Standard Lesotho Bank or Nedbank Lesotho on behalf of the applicants, consequent upon the applicants having vacated office as respectively Government Secretary and Principal Secretaries, (is) unconstitutional.

“The Minister of Finance is directed to provide funds, within 30 days to pay the applicants…,” part of the order reads.

Mr Mokuena Thakhisi, said he was relieved that justice had been served.

“This is a good victory for us, and we hope the government will duly comply with the court’s ruling because we are in the throes of poverty as a result of the injustice we suffered at the hands of the government,” Mr Mokuena Thakhisi said.

The same PSs are currently awaiting finalisation of another case where they are suing the government to pay them their severance packages for the final year of their contracts. When the government changed in 2017, they had only served two of their three-year contracts.

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Bereng Mpaki

THE Ministry of Mining is planning to give all diamond dealers an amnesty to hand in their inventory to the government before it starts issuing licences for small scale miners.

Commissioner of Mines Pheello Tjatja told the Lesotho Times on Tuesday that the amnesty is meant to give all persons currently holding diamonds illegally an opportunity to sell them with government assistance.

Many diamond traders are currently stuck with unsold inventory of rough diamonds because they are required to disclose the source as per the Kimberly Certification process. Buyers across the world only purchase diamonds that have authentic documentation indicating their source.

The ministry recently informed the dealers of its plans to permit small scale diamond mining and dealing but said diamonds on hand must be cleared first.

Mr Tjatja said the process is meant to help the government come up with a proper source management system to avoid corruption.

“We want to avoid false declarations of diamonds when small-scale miners eventually begin operations,” Mr Tjatja said.

“Failure to clear these diamonds could put us at the risk of being misinformed about the actual productivity of small-scale mining operations, which would negatively affect how they are developed going forward.”

He said dealers have been unable to sell their diamonds because they could not disclose their sources.

“The ministry must know the source of the dealers’ diamonds before exporting them for auctioning. It’s impossible for us to export diamonds whose source we are unaware of and this is why we want them declared even when they do not know the source so that we can assist them.

“The ministry will determine how to dispose of these diamonds but ideally, they will be cut and polished locally depending on their quality, and when we export them, they will be regarded as state property rather than a miner’s.”

He said the ministry’s legal team was developing the regulations that would guide the procedures that the dealers must follow in handing in their diamonds. Once they have completed the regulations, they will be tabled to cabinet.

Meanwhile, diamond dealers have welcomed the government’s decision saying it would benefit locals.

Chairperson of the Lesotho Diamonds Association, Michael Molefe, said the move was positive after many years of diamonds diggers and dealers struggling to get the recognition they deserved.

He said this was the culmination of long-term efforts that the association has consistently lobbying for the government to allow small scale miners to participate significantly in the mining sector.

Currently, diamond mining is limited to large foreign investments with the requisite financial muscle due to capital intensive nature of the business. The government as the local shareholder holding minority free carry shares in four of the existing large-scale mining operations.

“This is a positive move that we have been awaiting for a long time.

“This can only be good for the country as allowing locals to enter the mining industry will create significant jobs and increase revenue generation for the government,” Mr Molefe said.

He said attracting international buyers to Lesotho would be easy because of the abundance of good quality diamonds.

“We are confident that the decision to sell the diamonds locally will be successful due to the good reputation that our diamonds have garnered globally due to their high quality.”

He said the local trading would also increase the number of tourist arrivals in the country.

The post Dealers granted diamond amnesty appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Mohalenyane Phakela

OPPOSITION Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) deputy leader, Tšeliso Mokhosi, is finally a free man after the state withdrew murder charges against him.

The charges were withdrawn on Monday before Zimbabwean Judge Charles Hungwe.

Mr Mokhosi, who served as National Defence and Security minister in the Pakalitha Mosisili-led seven party coalition government from 2015 to 2017, was accused of murdering Police Constable (PC) Mokalekale Khetheng in 2016.

He has now been turned into a state witness against his co-accused, namely, Senior Superintendent Thabo Tšukulu, Superintendent Mothibeli Mofolo, Inspector Mabitle Matona and Police Constable Haleokoe Taasoane.

Former Commissioner of Police, Molahlehi Letsoepa, was also removed from the list of accused persons on the grounds that he could not be charged in absentia. He is in exile after he fled the country in 2017, claiming the then Thabane regime wanted to murder him.

Mr Mokhosi and the prosecutor Shaun Abrahams refused to say why the charges against the former minister were withdrawn and why he had been turned into a state witness.

Mr Mokhosi said the withdrawal of charges proved that he was innocent as he had maintained all along. He also said it was due to the “grace of God” that he did not die in police custody after he was allegedly tortured by the police after his arrest on 28 August 2017.

In September 2017, Mr Mokhosi made headlines when he sensationally accused the police of torturing him to a point where he soiled himself to get him to confess to the murder of PC Khetheng while he (Mr Mokhosi) was still a cabinet minister in 2016.

PC Khetheng, who was stationed in Mokhotlong, was last seen alive being arrested by his colleagues at a traditional feast in Sebothoane, Leribe on 25 March 2016.

He had been arrested and charged on allegations he torched the house of a superior officer in Mokhotlong district where he was deployed.

His remains were eventually exhumed at the Lepereng Cemetery, Maseru in August 2017. Mr Mokhosi handed himself over to the police after being summoned to assist with the investigations into PC Khetheng’s murder.

He was subsequently charged with murder alongside the police officers. At some point in September 2017, he even skipped the country claiming police wanted him dead after brutally torturing him while in custody.

The post Mokhosi free at last appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Limpho Sello

HEALTH minister Motlatsi Maqelepo has defended the complete or partial closure of some health facilities saying it was only a precautionary measure to curb the spread of the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Five health facilities have suspended or all of their services after some of their staffers tested positive for Covid-19.

Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (Tšepong) and Makoanyane Military Hospital suspended some of their services on Friday and Monday respectively after Covid-19 infections. At the time of the suspension of services at Tšepong, two staffers had tested positive for Covid-19. Two more cases were recorded yesterday.

At Makoanyane in Maseru, one soldier and two patients tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday.

The army’s head of public affairs, Brigadier Ntlele Ntoi this week told the Lesotho Times that they had suspended most services at the hospital until further notice.

Brigadier Ntoi said the suspension of services will allow the army to fumigate the facility to prevent the spread of the virus.

“This (suspension of services) has been done to maintain effectiveness and efficiency in catering for LDF personnel who are deployed around the country and those on routine duties,” Brigadier Ntoi said.

Only ante natal care, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS services, paediatrics and emergency services will be provided during the suspension.

Out-patient services will only be provided to army officers and their immediate families.

The police have also suspended services at their Katlehong AHF-LMPS Clinic after one of the staff members tested positive for Covid-19. The suspension was announced in a memorandum by Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli to district police commissioners and the Special Operations Unit.

Meanwhile, a staffer and two patients tested positive for Covid-19 at Seboche Hospital in Butha-Buthe on I July 2020. Tebellong hospital has also recorded Covid-19 infections but did not reveal the number. Seboche and Tebellong have both been indefinitely shut down.

Mr Maqelepo this week allayed public’s fears that the closure of health facilities meant that the virus was now out of control. He said the move was precautionary after a total of 16 health workers tested positive for Covid-19.

While conceding that the public desperately needed health services, Mr Maqelepo said temporarily closing some facilities was necessary to prevent the spread of the virus.

He said it was too risky for the facilities to continue operating when some of their staff had tested positive for Covid-19.

He said the temporary closures would enable the authorities to disinfect the facilities as well as trace and test people who had come into contact with Covid-19 patients.

“The temporary shutdown will ensure that patients do not contract the disease from the facilities. Allowing patients to access those facilities before they are disinfected is too risky.”

Meanwhile, Mr Maqelepo also revealed that some staffers at his ministry’s headquarters had also tested positive for Covid-19.

He however, did not say how many people were positive. He said staffers who had come into contact with their Covid-19 colleagues had since been identified and quarantined.

He said the offices would only open for emergencies with skeletal staff. Most of the employees will work from home, he said.

The post Maqelepo allays fears after hospitals’ closure appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Ntsebeng Motsoeli

THE Democratic Congress (DC)’s Kolo constituency legislator, Putsoane Leeto, died on Sunday evening after a short illness.

Although the official cause of his death has not been revealed, the party’s secretary general, Tšitso Cheba, told the Lesotho Times that his family suspected pneumonia due to his history as a mine worker in neighbouring South Africa.

According to Mr Cheba, the now deceased MP developed flu-like symptoms on Saturday. He was treated at a clinic and given medication for flu before being discharged.

However, his condition deteriorated and he was taken to the nearby Mafeteng Hospital before being referred to Mohale’s Hoek on Sunday. He died that evening between 9 and 10 pm.

“His family tells us that Ntate Leeto died on the same day that he was admitted to hospital,” Mr Cheba said this week.

“His was a really short illness. We are all shocked by his sudden passing. He was checked for Covid-19 and cleared. It is suspected that he died of pneumonia due to his history as a mine worker.”

Mr Cheba bemoaned the passing of Mr Leeto, saying the MP who was elected into parliament at the 2017 general elections was a hard worker who had immensely contributed to the success of the party.

“Even though he (Mr Leeto) was not part of the national executive committee, he was resourceful and made a significant contribution to the party.

“He volunteered his vehicles to transport supporters to rallies.

“He was trustworthy and served without any reservations or complaints. He contributed financially to the party whenever it was necessary.”

Mr Cheba said the loss of Mr Leeto had dented the DC’s numbers at a critical time when numbers were needed to sustain the DC’s coalition with the All Basotho Convention (ABC). The ABC and DC currently have a joint 76 legislators after the ABC lost two MPs who defected to the opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD) last month.

The governing coalition also enjoys the support of smaller parties like the Movement for Economic Change (six MPs), Basotho National Party (five), Popular Front for Democracy (three) and Reformed Congress of Lesotho (one).  But its numbers are not guaranteed because of the persistent infighting in the ABC.  If a sizeable number of MPs still loyal to Mr Thabane decides to sabotage the coalition, then it needs every possible legislator to sustain itself.

With the death of Mr Leeto, the DC has now lost five MPs since the 2017 elections to remain with 25 legislators.

Mothepu Mahapa (Moyeni constituency) and Tlohelang Aumane (Semena) both defected to the AD soon after the elections. They were later followed by Semano Sekatle (Lebakeng constituency) and his wife Pontšo (Qacha’s Nek) who joined the ABC in 2018.

“Four MPs defected to other parties after the 2017 elections. We were then left with 26 MPs and after Ntate Leeto’s passing, we are down to 25 MPs.

“Ntate Leeto has died at a critical time when the government is trying to manage its numbers in parliament because people are not trustworthy. You can see how our partners (ABC) in government are continuously struggling to contain their internal squabbles,” Mr Cheba said.

The post DC MP Leeto dies appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Nthatuoa Koeshe | Pascalinah Kabi

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)’s operations have ground to a virtual standstill after the expiry of the director of elections Dr Letholetseng Ntsike’s contract last week.

Law and Justice principal secretary, Retired Colonel Tanki Mothae, this week told the Lesotho Times that the IEC was now without a director of elections, effectively disabling its entire operations.  He said the post cannot be filled in the absence of commissioners as they were the only ones empowered to do so by the Electoral Act of 2011.

As a result, the IEC’s operations are at a standstill and the electoral body cannot conduct by-elections or demarcate constituencies, Rtd Col Mothae said.

He said the IEC cannot recruit her successor as this can only be done by commissioners who were yet to be appointed.

The crisis-ridden electoral body has been without commissioners after the previous Thomas Thabane-led government refused to renew the contracts of former chairperson, Justice Lehohla, and fellow commissioners Advocate ‘Mamosebi Pholo and Dr Makase Nyaphisi’s contracts following their expiry in January 2019. The decision not to renew their contracts was baffling as the three had conducted themselves impeccably during their tenures and run three consecutive credible elections.  The commissioners nonetheless also lost their court bids to remain in office.

Subsequent moves to recruit new commissioners were put on hold by a July 2019 Constitutional Court application by the Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) and two others for the nullification of the appointment of Workplace Solutions as the consultants in the recruitment of new IEC commissioners.

The TRC’s co-applicants are IEC hopeful, Maieane Khaketla, and the African Ark party. The African Ark is one of the political parties involved in the processes to recruit and appoint new commissioners.

The TRC wants the court to order the recruitment exercise of the new IEC commissioners to be re-done with the active participation of civic groups through a public interviewing process.

The TRC also wants a final order which nullifies the appointment of Workplace Solutions as the consultants in the whole recruitment exercise.

The TRC contends that Workplace Solutions was awarded the tender without following proper bidding processes in contravention of the Public Procurement Regulations of 2007.  It has been suggested the firm did not even have a tax clearance certificate.

The case is pending before the courts and is the main impediment to the appointment of new commissioners.

Rtd Col Mothae said the IEC cannot replace Dr Ntsike in the absence of commissioners as they were the only ones empowered to do so by the Electoral Act.

“Dr Ntsike’s contract has ended and the position will remain vacant because the challenge is on the side of the law,” Rtd Col Mothae said.

“The (Law and Justice) minister (Professor Nqosa Mahao) is consulting to see how best we can navigate this matter.

“Maybe after the consultations, the minister will come up with a solution. But as we speak, there is no one in that office. This means that IEC business is at a standstill. The IEC cannot hold any by-elections or conduct all other serious business in the absence of commissioners,” added Rtd Col Mothae.

Prof Mahao’s mobile phone rang unanswered when he was called for comment yesterday. Last month, he described the situation at the IEC as a crisis.

“We are in crisis at the IEC. We currently do not have commissioners and the work cannot go on. For example, the constitution dictates that we must periodically demarcate the electoral constituencies but that assignment cannot be concluded without commissioners. In addition, the contract of the director of elections expires at the end of this month (June 2020).

“I have asked the Attorney General (Haae Phoofolo) to give me legal advice on this matter in the face of the pending court cases regarding the appointment of new commissioners,” Prof Mahao said last month.

Meanwhile Adv Ntsike this week told this publication that without commissioners, the IEC would continue to be paralysed by serious challenges including the inability to conduct elections or demarcate constituencies.

The post IEC operations grind to a halt appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Mohalenyane Phakela

FORMER Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s estranged daughter, Advocate ‘Mabatšoeneng Hlaele, will have to wait until Monday to learn the outcome of her application for an interim interdict to stop her father and his wife, ‘Maesaiah, from selling any of the land Mr Thabane acquired together with his slain ex-wife, Lipolelo.

High Court Judge Keketso Moahloli heard arguments from all litigants on Monday and reserved judgement to 13 July 2020.

The hearing was held at Justice Moahloli’s home because the High Court is on a winter break from 15 June to 3 August 2020.

Adv Hlaele (nee Nkoya Thabane) and Attorney Kuili Ndebele are the applicants in the matter. They are represented by Mr Monaheng Rasekoai.

‘Maesaiah, Mr Thabane, the Master of High Court, the Attorney General (Haae Phoofolo), Toka Thabane, Potlako Thabane, Pulane Borotho (nee Thabane), the Land Administration Authority (LAA) and the Minister of Social Development ‘Matebatso Doti are the first to ninth respondents respectively. They are represented by Adv Salemane Phafane.

Only the litigants’ lawyers attended the hearing and argued the matter at Justice Moahloli’s home.

Mr Rasekoai later told the Lesotho Times that Justice Moahloli had reserved judgement on the interim reliefs to 13 July 2020.

“We argued the interim prayers on Monday at Justice Moahloli’s home and the learned judge has reserved judgement to next Monday,” Mr Rasekoai said. After delivering the judgement, Justice Moahloli will set a date for hearing the main case to bar Mr Thabane and ‘Maesaiah from benefiting from Lipolelo’s estate.

Mr Thabane and ‘Maesaiah stand accused of murdering Lipolelo on 14 June 2017. At the time of her assassination, Mr Thabane and Lipolelo were estranged from each other and their divorce had not been finalised. Mr Thabane married ‘Maesaiah just two months after Lipolelo’s murder.

In her court application filed last week, Nkoya claims that after Lipolelo’s murder, Mr Thabane and ‘Maesaiah took over Lipolelo and Mr Thabane’s joint estate. She alleges that they are selling off some of the properties thereby prejudicing Lipolelo and Mr Thabane’s adopted children, Regina Retšelisitsoe Thabane and Kekeletso Joseph Thabane.

Nkoya says she is the legal guardian of Regina, a minor aged 17 but just a month shy of attaining the legal age of majority. Kekeletso is 32 but is said to suffer from autism which affects him mentally.

Nkoya wants the High Court to issue an interim order interdicting ‘Maesaiah and Mr Thabane from “transferring and or transacting over any sale of land rights and interest in respect of immovable properties registered in their (Lipolelo and Mr Thabane’s) names with the LAA pending finalisation of this matter”.

She wants the LAA to be ordered to provide all the records of the land registered in the names of ‘Maesaiah and Mr Thabane pending the finalisation of the main case.

She also wants the court to order the Minister of Social Development, ‘Matebatso Doti, to order social workers to assess Regina Thabane and present a report within 14 days of the order. She wants the court to grant her interim custody of Regina pending finalisation of her application.

In terms of the final relief, she wants an order declaring that “all properties (movable and or immovable) registered in the names of ‘Maesaiah Thabane and Thomas Motsoahae Thabane and which were acquired and or allocated prior to their marriage do not form part of their joint estate but that of Thomas Motsoahae Thabane and the late Lipolelo Thabane”.

She also wants the court to compel Mr Thabane to forfeit a quarter of Lipolelo’s estate to Regina and Kekeletso.

She wants to be awarded custody over Regina “and or any alternative remedy or remedies be made by this court in respect of what is in the best interests of Regina”.

The post Verdict reserved in Nkoya application appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP), Paseka Mokete, faces sexual assault charges after he allegedly manhandled a subordinate female officer.

This publication has seen a 10 June 2020 savingram where the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Advocate Hlalefang Motinyane, states that she is convinced that there is a case of sexual harassment against DCP Mokete.

DCP Mokete denied any wrongdoing in an interview with the Lesotho Times last night. He said the allegations were raised by “people who are fighting me”. He did not mention any names.

The charges against him stem from a 30 April 2020 incident where he is alleged to have touched the buttocks of the complainant (name withheld) without her consent. According to DPP Motinyane, DCP Mokete was involved in a scuffle with the junior officer who had refused to return a letter that he had earlier given her.

“…according to this witness, who is a complainant, DCP Mokete manhandled her on 30 April 2020,” Adv Motinyane states in the savingram to the Maseru District Police.

“In the process of the attack, DCP Mokete touched her buttocks without her consent. The buttons of the complainant’s trousers even fell off as she lurched up to free herself from DCP Mokete’s grasp.

“After the complainant had freed herself, DCP Mokete pursued her and dragged her back to the motor vehicle where the fracas had started.

“The attack was precipitated by the complainant’s refusal to hand back a letter which DCP Mokete had just handed over to her. DCP Mokete wanted to retrieve the letter,” DPP Motinyane states. However, she does not disclose the contents of the letter.

DPP Motinyane therefore recommended the prosecution of DCP Mokete for the alleged sexual offence.

“I find that there is prima facie (on the face of it) evidence of contravention of Section 3 (2) of the Sexual Offences Act No 3 of 2003 and alternatively contravention of Section 30 of the Penal Code No 6 of 2010.

“Secondly, the accused (DCP Mokete) must be charged with contravening Section 72 of the Penal Code Act No 6 of 2010 and I direct that DCP Mokete must be charged accordingly. I further find that the unlawful sexual act (as defined in the Act) was committed under coercive circumstances.”

Section 30 of the Penal Code Act No.6 of 2010 states that: “A person who intentionally applies unlawful force to the person of another commits the offence of assault”.

Section 72 of the Penal Code Act No 6 of 2010 states that: “A person who, without lawful excuse, does any act with the intention of damaging property, even if singly or jointly owned or possessed, commits the offence of unlawful damage to property”.

Section 3 (2) of the Sexual Offences Act No 3 of 2003 states that: “A person who commits an unlawful sexual act with another person, or causes another person to commit an unlawful sexual act commits an offence”.

Contacted for comment yesterday, police spokesperson, Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli, said, “I can confirm that there is such a case against DCP Mokete but I cannot tell what will happen as the police command will determine the way forward”.

DCP Mokete denied any wrongdoing, saying the allegations were raised by people who were fighting him.

“I haven’t received any formal communication regarding the issue. But I am ready to clear my name in court. I know what happened that day and it is not what is alleged in those papers. It’s just people fighting me but I am ready to appear in court so that everything can be cleared,” DCP Mokete said last night.

DCP Mokete has been in the news for spearheading the high-profile murder investigation and prosecution of former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and his wife, ‘Maesaiah.

The senior police officer and the DPP have been publicly trading barbs over the Lipolelo murder with DCP Mokete accusing Ms Motinyane of sabotaging the prosecution of the former first couple to protect them.  The DPP came under severe criticism from the Court of Appeal over how she handled the first bail application of ‘Maesaiah.

DCP Mokete had even called for the replacement of Ms Motinyane as prosecutor in the Lipolelo murder trial. The two appeared to have smoked the peace pipe though the latest development signals a new feud.

The post Mokete faces sexual assault charge appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• blasts Majoro gvt, ABC for ‘persecuting’ him
• while ABC claims he has “expelled” himself from the party

Pascalinah Kabi

THERE is just no letting up in the fractious All Basotho Convention (ABC)’s drama. This week the ABC leader and former Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane, savaged new premier Moeketsi Majoro’s government for allegedly denying him his terminal benefits and persecuting him by pursuing murder charges against him.

The fire-spitting former premier also tore into his party’s national executive committee (NEC) for sidelining him from decision-making even though he remains party leader. He also accused the party and government of orchestrating a witch-hunt to get rid of principal secretaries he had appointed during his short-lived tenure from June 2017 to 19 May 2020.

However, the NEC is fighting Mr Thabane’s fire with fire.  ABC spokesperson Montoeli Masoetsa accuses Mr Thabane of deliberately absenting himself from crucial NEC meetings. Mr Masoetsa says the ABC constitution stipulates that any NEC member who deliberately misses three consecutive meetings, as Mr Thabane has done, automatically expels themselves from the party. He says although some ABC members are clamouring for Mr Thabane’s formal expulsion, the former premier’s fate was “not a priority at the moment”.

Mr Thabane was forced to step down by his own party on 19 May 2020. The ABC’s NEC views the veteran politician as a liability after he was named by police as a suspect in the 14 June 2017 murder of his ex-wife, Lipolelo. His current wife, ‘Maesaiah faces the same charges and is out on M10 000 bail.

It had been expected that Mr Thabane would appear in court on Tuesday but that did not happen. Mr Thabane had been expected to finally appear alongside his wife on Tuesday but that did not happen. Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP) Paseka Mokete, yesterday said they were only tying up loose ends before taking Mr Thabane to court. He said they had delayed to ensure that when they finally bring him to court, the former premier would not avoid trial on any technicality. (See story on page 5).

A day before his expected court appearance, Mr Thabane held a press conference to speak on his current situation after he was forced to give up power on 19 May 2020.

There were no initial signs of the storming address that was to come when Mr Thabane stepped out into the yard of the Hillsview residence as the light began to fade on a chilly wintry Monday evening.

Instead, the octogenarian appeared his usual jovial self as he cracked jokes.

Apart from his usual trusted allies like his son, Potlako, and ABC MPs Chalane Phori and Samonyane Ntsekele, the ceremony was also attended by opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD) lawmakers, Thuso Litjobo, Tlohelang Aumane, Tsukutlane Au, Mokoto Hloaele and Mokherane Tsatsanyane. The AD officials also attended last week’s ceremony to celebrate ‘Maesaiah’s return from prison after she was freed on bail having spent about three weeks behind bars after the Court of Appeal had revoked her bail.  This and the fact that the Thabane faction held a secret meeting with the AD has fuelled speculation that the former premier and his allies could be considering ditching the ABC for a new political arrangement which includes his former coalition partner.

Resplendent in the green, yellow and red colours of the ABC on Monday, Mr Thabane pointed out the nearby correctional facility and said, “prison is over there”.

“They (Maseru Prison) are my neighbours and there are some boys who need to go there,” he said before breaking into laughter and without naming the “boys” who must go there.

His supporters joined in as Mr Thabane took his place at the high table draped in three ABC-themed blankets.

From that moment on, the event took on a more serious air as Mr Thabane tore into the new government for allegedly persecuting him.

“Do know that I am going to court tomorrow morning (Tuesday). I am being taken to court by the very same people that I handed over power to. I handed them power to lead the country and the party. They had to unite and grow this party.

“As I am speaking with you just a month after I retired from the office of the prime minister, I have not received my benefits. These gentlemen have not paid me,” Mr Thabane said.

Finance Minister Thabo Sophonea later told the Lesotho Times that his office had not received any communication from the prime minister’s office advising him to pay Mr Thabane’s terminal benefits.

Mr Sophonea also said that processing terminal benefits was not an “overnight affair”.

“The office of the prime minister through Ntate (Kemiso) Mosenene and cabinet are best placed to know how far they have gone in processing his retirement benefits. I cannot just pay him without documents from that office advising me to pay him.

“It must also be noted that processing retirement benefits is not an overnight process. It cannot be concluded in a month,” Mr Sophonea said.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Mosenene, was not reachable on his mobile phone for comment. Prime Minister Majoro’ spokesperson, Mosito Moqhekoana, said he was yet to establish all the facts of the Thabane issue from his boss.

Mr Thabane also said the new government and the ABC had not heeded his call to deal with deeply entrenched political polarisation in the country. Infighting has continued unabated in the ABC and in the aftermath of Mr Thabane’s ouster, two MPs Mokherane Tsatsanyane (Stadium Area constituency) and Sello Mooki (Bobatsi) defected to the AD. Several other MPs have threatened to follow suit in anger over being snubbed for cabinet appointments by Dr Majoro.

Mr Thabane also complained he was not being consulted on any issues by his party yet he remained its leader.

“I wish to tell you ABC members that today I am not being consulted or informed by those I am leading in the party… I’m not being consulted by the national executive committee and those that I left in power.

“We appointed members of the party to political and professional positions such as principal secretaries and today they are being persecuted and fired from those positions. When I left office, I told the ABC members who assumed the power of leading the government and the party that I guarantee them my support at all times.

“Always remember that power does not last forever. Be honest in your dealings and be aware that there will be traps along the way. What is stopping you from involving me in your plans when I am still alive and announced to the whole world that I will always be there to advise and guide you until such time when I retire as the leader of the ABC?

“I am asking a rhetorical question that I have no answer to and you will probably assist me with an answer to this and many other questions that I have. I appealed to my fellow countrymen who are leading the country today to take these wise words to help them to do the right things and overcome the challenges facing the country such as the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

“Let us leave behind hatred, jealousy and bitterness and work hard for peace and stability. At the same time, we should be teaching our fellow countrymen and women to respect each other. ABC members should not be seen firing those I worked with because of hatred or political polarisation. Let go of the spirit of revenge,” Mr Thabane said.

However, Mr Masoetsa shot back at Mr Thabane, saying he was to blame for snubbing NEC meetings.

“How does he (Mr Thabane) claim that the NEC does not involve him in running the party when he is the one who always tell us to go ahead with meetings every time we extend the invitation?

“He always turns down our invitations and asks us to inform him of our decisions. But we cannot even inform him of our decisions because his handlers deny us access to him. We have since resolved that with or without him, we will hold meetings and make decisions,” Mr Masoetsa said.

He said the ABC constitution stipulated that any NEC member who missed three consecutive meetings, as Mr Thabane had done, automatically expelled themselves from the party. Mr Masoetsa has previously said that the ABC would hold a special conference sometime this month to elect Mr Thabane’s successor. He however, said the conference would not proceed to allow the party and government to focus on service delivery to the nation. He said although some ABC members were clamouring for Mr Thabane’s expulsion, the former premier’s fate was “not a priority at the moment”.

“There were some ABC members who had already started campaigning for the leadership post but we made a decision that those campaigns must be suspended. Our most pressing priority is to stabilise this government and ensure that it delivers services to the people,” Mr Masoetsa said.

The post Thabane cries foul appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• Thabane allies declare war against Majoro
• threaten to expose new PM’s ‘dirty secrets’ if he doesn’t order the dropping of Thabane’s murder charges 

Pascalinah Kabi

THOMAS Thabane’s allies have declared war on Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro.

They have threatened to “expose” Dr Majoro’s own “dirty secrets” if the new premier does not give in to their demands to have the murder charges against Mr Thabane dropped.

Dr Majoro’s mobile phone rang unanswered yesterday when he was called for comment.

But former cabinet minister and current Qoaling legislator, Chalane Phori, who acts like the unofficial spokesman of Mr Thabane’s allies, vowed that Dr Majoro’s “dirty secrets” would be exposed unless he intervened to halt efforts to charge Mr Thabane with the June 2017 murder of his ex-wife, Lipolelo.

Mr Phori does not however explain how Dr Majoro can make such a patently illegal intervention as a prime minister does not have the legal authority to interfere with prosecution processes.

The threats nonetheless come against the background of widening fissures within the ABC which have seen some Thabane loyalists voting in parliament against their own party on crucial issues such as the position of deputy speaker of parliament. In the aftermath of Mr Thabane’s enforced departure from power two months ago, two ABC legislators Mokherane Tsatsanyane (Stadium Area constituency) and Sello Mooki (Bobatsi) have defected to the opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD). The AD was the second biggest party in Mr Thabane’s four party regime which lasted from June 2017 until 19 May 2020 when the former premier was forced to step down by his own party.

A new coalition comprising of the ABC and the Democratic Congress (DC) was formed in place of the former government. Ominously for the ABC, Mr Thabane and his loyalists have lately been hobnobbing with senior AD officials.

AD lawmakers, Thuso Litjobo, Tlohelang Aumane, Tsukutlane Au, Mokoto Hloaele and Mokherane Tsatsanyane attended a Monday press conference convened by Mr Thabane at his Hillsview residence to express his anger over his “persecution” by the Majoro government and his own ABC party.

The AD officials also attended last week’s ceremony at the same venue to celebrate the release of Mr Thabane’s wife, ‘Maesaiah, on bail over the same murder charges.  This and the fact that the Thabane faction held a secret meeting with the AD on Sunday “to plot how to assist Mr Thabane” in the face of murder charges has fuelled speculation that the former premier and his allies could be considering ditching the ABC for a new political arrangement which includes his former coalition partner.

Mr Thabane and his wife, ‘Maesaiah, are accused of murdering the former premier’s ex-wife, Lipolelo, on 14 June 2017.

‘Maesaiah first appeared in court on 5 February 2020 and is out on M10 000 bail.

Mr Thabane had been expected to finally appear alongside his wife on Tuesday but that did not happen. Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP) Paseka Mokete, yesterday said they were only tying up loose ends before taking Mr Thabane to court. He said they had delayed to ensure that when they finally bring him to court, the former premier would not avoid trial on any technicality.

Amid all the brouhaha surrounding the case, the former premier, his allies and the AD officials held a meeting at Mr Thabane’s Hillsview residence on Sunday to plot their response to the murder case.

Former ministers Phori (Small Business, Cooperating and Marketing), Samonyane Ntsekele (Water), Tšehlo Ramarou (Public Works) and Mahala Molapo (Local Government and Chieftainship) were among some of the ABC MPs who attended the meeting.

The meeting was held to plot ways of supporting Mr Thabane after the MPs had caught wind of plans by the police to haul Mr Thabane before the courts.

A day later, Mr Phori, a self-confessed Thabane loyalist, told the Lesotho Times that they want Dr Majoro to instruct the police and the crown to drop the charges against Mr Thabane.

He said ABC MPs loyal to Mr Thabane met on Sunday to come up with a strategy to support Mr Thabane.

Asked what strategy they had agreed, Mr Phori said, “allow me not to say anything now. This is a political war”.

But if his video recorded on Monday night and went viral on Tuesday is anything to go by, the Thabane loyalists’ strategy is to go for broke and fight dirty by exposing what they say are Dr Majoro’s dirty secrets.

Mr Phori said Dr Majoro’s closet was ‘full of skeletons’ that the premier would not want the world to know about. To ensure that those skeletons remain hidden, Mr Phori said Dr Majoro would have to ensure that the charges against Mr Thabane are dropped.

In the video, Mr Phori is heard saying that Mr Thabane was elected into office after the party received about 250 000 votes at the 2017 elections. He alleges that at least half of that number are still solidly behind Mr Thabane even after he was forced to step down on 19 May 2020 by his own party’s national executive committee (NEC) and several legislators.

He warns that Dr Majoro would have serious problems on his hands if he does not instruct the prosecuting authorities to drop the charges against Mr Thabane.

“Thabane’s staunch supporters will stand by him. He (Thabane) was voted into power by 250 000 people. If there are people who hate him that much in the party, divide that 250 000 by half and you will still have another half which supports him.

“This means you will still have serious problems in your hands. That is why those things you are doing must come to an end. I want to say this to you Dr Majoro. Get your house in order while there is still time for that”.

He said that he had held meetings with Dr Majoro on the issue. He and fellow Thabane allies had restrained themselves thus far because they wanted to support the premier who came to power on 20 May 2020.

But due to his failure to support Mr Thabane, Dr Majoro no longer deserved their support, said Mr Phori.

“We supported you before but do not force us to fight back. Who can claim that he is squeaky clean? We do not want to fight a nasty political fight here but if push comes to shove, we will not hesitate to (fight).

“We are ABC members and we will use everything within our powers. He (Thabane) relinquished power, what more do you want from him now? Will you ever let Ntate Tom rest?”

Mr Phori even urged ABC supporters to attend Mr Thabane’s court appearance in their thousands to show their support. The court hearing did not materialize on Tuesday as had been expected.

“People who are taking him to court will know from tomorrow (Tuesday) that we are against them. You will know that we stand against you. We are staunch ABC members who will not be shaken by anything. You cannot do that to Tom Thabane,” Mr Phori said.

He urged the ABC to take a leaf from the DC which he claimed had protected its former leader and ex-premier Pakalitha Mosisili from being exposed for his wrongs.

He said just like the DC founder, Mr Thabane should be similarly protected by the party he had founded.

“There are a lot of things that we can say about Ntate Mosisili but the DC has moved to protect him by ensuring that those issues remain hidden. This is because the DC members love him and that is a good thing.

“The Basotho Congress Party and Lesotho Congress for Democracy respected Ntate Ntsu Mokhehle as their founder and still continue to do so even after his death. Ntate Monyane Moleleki is the founder of his party (AD) and he is respected. When he is being embarrassed, the party comes to his defence and that is a good thing. What is it that Tom Thabane has done to warrant you to go after him like a vulnerable animal being preyed on by a hunter?”

Without mentioning any names, Mr Phori took a swipe at those campaigning to replace Mr Thabane as party leader. ABC deputy leader Professor Nqosa Mahao and chairperson Samuel Rapapa have openly declared their willingness to contest the top post. Party insiders have said that Dr Majoro will also contest to consolidate his position in the party as he is currently just a legislator and not a member of the powerful NEC.

ABC spokesperson Montoeli Masoetsa had previously said elections to replace Mr Thabane would be held sometime this month. But this week, he told this publication that replacing Mr Thabane was “not a priority”.

“There were some ABC members who had already started campaigning for the leadership post but we made a decision that those campaigns must be suspended. Our most pressing priority is to stabilise this government and ensure that it delivers services to the people,” Mr Masoetsa said.

Mr Phori said it was wrong for anyone to campaign for the post when it was still occupied by Mr Thabane.

He said he even warned the party against choosing Mr Thabane’s successor in government but this had gone unheeded and this had divided the party further.

“I once warned that it was unwise to elect the prime minister’s successor while Thabane was still in office but we embarked on that route. I warned that we will divide this party. But we still supported you ( ABC NEC). You are now starting yet another thing and I must tell you that this time around you are not going to win,” Mr Phori said without explaining the legal authority he expects Dr Majoro to use to stop the prosecution of Mr Thabane.

The post It’s war!!! appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Staff Reporter

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho has condemned the bodyguards of Deputy Police Commissioner Paseka Mokete for manhandling the Lesotho Times’s photographer, Thabelo Monamane, at the Maseru Magistrates Court this week.

Mr Monamane was covering DCP Mokete’s court appearance on charges of sexually assaulting a junior female police officer when his seemingly unmannered bodyguards manhandled him and demanded that he deletes all the pictures of DCP Mokete he had taken in court because the senior police officer “does not like to have his pictures taken”.

The two overzealous bodyguards accosted Mr Monamane soon after the Tuesday court appearance and demanded that deletes the pictures. The melee that ensued attracted several onlookers at court.

Narrating his ordeal, Mr Monamane said shortly before the adjournment of proceedings, he had seen DCP Mokete engaging in a discussion with his bodyguards.

“They were pointing at me. I knew then that they wanted me to delete the pictures. I have been in similar situations where I was asked to delete pictures,” said Mr Monamane.

“I found the two bodyguards waiting for me outside the courtroom. The first one pleaded that I delete the pictures because DCP Mokete did not want his pictures taken. I said I would do so. I only said this so that they would let me go.

“The other bodyguard was more menacing and said I could not fool him by claiming that I had deleted the pictures. He said he had seen me removing the memory card from my camera and asked whether I considered their demand to delete the pictures a mere joke.

“He said they were not here to play with me. I was however, saved by the presence of the large number of onlookers who surrounded me as I was being harrased. They eventually let me go without confiscating my camera or making me delete the pictures.”

MISA Lesotho condemned the incident and called upon the police and other government institutions to respect and uphold the freedom of journalists to work without harassment and intimidation.

Lesotho Times editor, Herbert Moyo, said it was worrying that the police were harassing journalists instead of protecting them and allowing them to do their work freely.

“The media should be allowed to operate freely without fear of harassment and intimidation.  It is therefore worrying if law enforcement officers who are supposed to offer such protection become the perpetrators of violence and intimidation of journalists,” Mr Moyo said.

MISA Lesotho director, Lekhetho Ntsukunyane, said they were preparing to petition the government over the ill-treatment of journalists.

“We condemn the harassment of Mr Monamane by DCP Mokete’s bodyguards. Journalists are allowed by courts to take pictures and they should not be intimidated by anyone while doing their work.

“We intend to make a statement to remind those in power that Lesotho signed several international protocols committing itself to protect journalists’ freedom of expression.

“We want to take the Registrar of the High Court and Court of Appeal (Advocate ‘Mathato Sekoai) to task about the harassment of journalists at the courts. We are not happy about what happened to Mr Monamane and other journalists,” Mr Ntsukunyane said.

Africa Media Holdings (AMH), the publisher of the Lesotho Times, said in a statement the sooner DCP Mokete and his bodyguards dropped their thuggery and acquainted themselves with the role of the media the better for themselves.

“A court is a public place and the media has a right to record everything that happens there.  We promise DCP Mokete that we shall be in full force at his next court appearance and perform our right and obligation of taking as many photographs of him as possible and splash them across our news pages and those of our syndicated partner publications around the world.

“If his bodyguards misbehave again, our rights shall be fully reserved. If DCP Mokete does not want his photos taken, he should happily quit his public profession and quarantine himself as a private citizen in his home. We guarantee we will never visit him at his private quarters to take his photos because we have no right to enter private places to take photos. But as long as we find him at a public place like a court, our cameras will be on hand. The sooner he educates himself and his bodyguards about basic media etiquette the better.”

The post Mokete’s bodyguards condemned for harassing journalist appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• Finance Minister warns state could fail to pay salaries if pandemic persists

Ntsebeng Motsoeli

Government coffers have been severely depleted due to the impact of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. There is a real danger it could soon fail to pay civil servants’ salaries, Finance Minister Thabo Sophonea has warned.

Mr Sophonea last night told the Lesotho Times that Covid-19 had impacted negatively on economic activity leading to lower than expected revenue collections thus far. He did not say how much had been collected by the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) since the pandemic started. The LRA and government had in March 2020 announced some tax holidays to cushion companies against the impact of Covid-19 and that inevitably impacted on revenue collections. He said the M700 million budget the government had set aside for the Covid-19 emergency response was grossly inadequate.

He said the situation was aggravated by the fact that some of the financial aid they had applied for had still not come from international development partners and multi-lateral financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The minister therefore cautioned factory workers, health professionals and other workers against making unreasonable demands as this could lead to a situation where there were no funds to pay civil servants’ salaries.

Mr Sophonea said health and factory workers were “continuously mounting pressure” on the government to meet their allowances and wage demands, forgetting that there were other sectors that were equally affected by the deadly virus.

“They (health and factory workers) make demands without considering our perilous economic situation,” Mr Sophonea said.

“We are yet to face the full storm of Covid-19 and things might get worse than they already are.

“There could be another lockdown and people will need the money more than they do now. The government will not be able to give out any relief funds by then. Things could become so bad that salaries will not be paid.”

Mr Sophonea said the M700 million the government set aside for the Covid-19 response was not enough and there was an urgent need to mobilise more financial support.

He said he could not immediately say how much will be needed but the budget would have to be augmented as Covid-19 infections continue to spike. By yesterday, 256 infections and three deaths had been recorded.

“There is an urgent need to raise more funds as cases continue to increase. We need to adequately equip our quarantine facilities with intensive care beds and ventilators,” he said.

The government is under pressure to pay striking health workers risk allowances as well as  the M800 wage subsidies to factory workers whose incomes were affected by the lockdown from 30 March to May 2020. The government had promised to pay factory workers for three months from April to June to cushion them from their income losses.

Some of the factories are still to return to full production even after the lockdown ended and the  factory workers want more even as the government has struggled to pay all the promised dues.

“The healthcare professionals’ risk allowances amount to M80 million for six months (up to August 2020). These allowances are included in the M700 million budgeted for the Covid-19 response.

“However, the M120 million for factory workers was not included in the M700 million. The government had to suspend some of its activities and projects to cater for the economic and social mitigation measures announced by the former prime minister Thomas Thabane including the subsidies for factory workers. The M700 million was not enough to cater for them.

“The government has since applied for financial assistance from international institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.

“The government has raised US$7, 5 million from the World Bank. It has negotiated another US$21 million with the bank.  All these monies have not yet been received. We have applied for the assistance under the G-20 countries Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to low income countries.

“Under the Smallholder Agricultural Development Project II (SADP II), government has raised US$5 million towards meeting the M100 million funding of the agricultural sector. Government has also negotiated balance of payments support with the IMF.

“In addition, we are still waiting for an actual pledge from the African Development Bank group. All these monies are meant for economic and social mitigation measures,” Mr Sophonea said.

The post Govt on the verge of bankruptcy as Covid-19 bites appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• as court blocks Thabane and ‘Maesaiah from selling Lipolelo’s property

Mohalenyane Phakela

FORMER Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s daughter ‘Mabatšoeneng Hlaele (nee Nkoya Thabane) has been granted an interim order barring Mr Thabane and his wife, ‘Maesaiah, from selling any of the land Mr Thabane acquired together with his slain ex-wife, Lipolelo.

The order is valid until 14 August 2020 when it is expected that a final judgement would be delivered on the matter.

High Court Judge Keketso Moahloli delivered the verdict on Monday.

Justice Moahloli heard arguments from the applicants’ and respondents’ lawyers on 6 July 2020 and reserved judgement to Monday 13 July 2020.

Adv Hlaele (nee Nkoya Thabane) and Attorney Kuili Ndebele are the applicants in the matter. Nkoya is represented by Advocate Christopher Lephuthing while Mr Ndebele is represented by Mr Monaheng Rasekoai.

‘Maesaiah, Mr Thabane, the Master of High Court, the Attorney General (Haae Phoofolo), Toka Thabane, Potlako Thabane, Pulane Borotho (nee Thabane), the Land Administration Authority (LAA) and the Minister of Social Development ‘Matebatso Doti are the first to ninth respondents respectively. Save for Mr Thabane who is represented by Mr Qhalehang Letsika, the other respondents are represented by Adv Salemane Phafane.

Mr Thabane and ‘Maesaiah are accused of murdering Lipolelo on 14 June 2017. At the time of her assassination, Mr Thabane and Lipolelo were estranged from each other and their divorce had not been finalised. Mr Thabane married ‘Maesaiah just two months after Lipolelo’s murder.

In her court application, Nkoya claims that after Lipolelo’s murder, Mr Thabane and ‘Maesaiah have taken over Lipolelo and Mr Thabane’s joint estate. She alleges they are even selling off some of the properties thereby prejudicing Lipolelo and Mr Thabane’s adopted children, Regina Retšelisitsoe Thabane and Kekeletso Joseph Thabane.

Nkoya says she is the legal guardian of Regina, a minor aged 17 but just a month shy of attaining the legal age of majority. Kekeletso is 32 but is said to suffer from autism.

Nkoya wanted the High Court to issue an interim order interdicting ‘Maesaiah and Mr Thabane from “transferring and or transacting over any sale of land rights and interest in respect of immovable properties registered in their (Lipolelo and Mr Thabane’s) names with the LAA pending finalisation of this matter”.

She wanted the LAA to be ordered to provide all the records of the land registered in the names of ‘Maesaiah and Mr Thabane pending the finalisation of the main case.

She also wanted the court to order the Minister of Social Development, ‘Matebatso Doti, to order social workers to assess Regina Thabane and present a report within 14 days of the order. She wants the court to grant her interim custody of Regina pending finalisation of her application.

In terms of the final relief, she wants an order declaring that “all properties (movable and or immovable) registered in the names of ‘Maesaiah Thabane and Thomas Motsoahae Thabane and which were acquired and or allocated prior to their marriage do not form part of their joint estate but that of Thomas Motsoahae Thabane and the late Lipolelo Thabane”.

She also wants the court to compel Mr Thabane to forfeit a quarter of Lipolelo’s estate to Regina and Kekeletso.

She wants to be awarded custody over Regina “and or any alternative remedy or remedies be made by this court in respect of what is in the best interests of Regina”.

Justice Moahloli granted her interim prayers except for the prayer to order Ms Doti to order social workers to assess Regina Thabane. He did not say why the prayer was not granted.

The respondents’ lawyers had argued that Nkoya did not have the legal authority to institute the proceedings as she had been “wrongfully” granted guardianship of Regina by the Master of High Court when her adoptive parent, Mr Thabane, was still alive. They also argued that the High Court did not have the jurisdiction to preside over matters they said were within the exclusive purview of the Children’s Court.

However, Justice Moahloli ruled that the Master of the High Court was correct to appoint Nkoya Thabane as Regina’s guardian because even by ‘Maesaiah’s own submission, Mr Thabane could not handle her affairs as he was incapacitated due to dementia and other terminal illnesses.

‘Maesaiah made the claims in her bail application which was granted on 29 June 2020.

“In the present case, I am satisfied that the applicants (Nkoya and Mr Ndebele) have identified an applicable right that exists in law, and not a mere interest.

“They have shown that the adoptive children have a right to a share of the joint estate of their deceased mother (Lipolelo) and their surviving father (Mr Thabane), either in terms of the common law rules of interstate succession or the celebrated Sesotho law principle of “Malapa ha jane” (loosely translated to mean ‘another family cannot take over another’s inheritance’).

“They have also shown that their wards (Regina and Kekeletso) have the right and urgent need to protect whatever property is due to devolve to them against unlawful dissipation…

“I am satisfied that the applicants have satisfied the requirements for the grant of the interim interdict.

“It is not true that the High Court has no jurisdiction in every matter concerning custody and guardianship of children. For instance, the High Court routinely deals with custody in divorce proceedings, without referring it to Children’s Court… The applicants are not seeking to challenge Ntate Thabane’s right to parenting but merely seeking to safeguard the adoptive children’s personal rights to the intestate estate of their deceased adoptive mother, Lipolelo.

“It is common cause, on the first respondent’s (Ms ‘Maesaiah Thabane’s) own version, that Ntate Thabane, the surviving parent/father of the child Regina, is incapacitated… In my view, the Master of the High Court was consequently justified to appoint Ms Hlaele as her guardian at least in respect of the estate. This court unreservedly endorses the Master’s decision…The interests of the minor child are always paramount…

“In my view, the main purpose of this application is to safeguard the rights of the adopted children, Regina and Kekeletso, to their lawful share of the joint estate of their adoptive parents, Ntate Thabane and the deceased Ms Lipolelo Thabane,” Justice Moahloli said.

The post Court victory for Nkoya appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Staff Reporter

ALLIES of All Basotho Convention (ABC) leader Thomas Thabane have declared war on Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro, saying they will “expose” his own “dirty secrets” if the new premier does not give in to their demands to have the murder charges against Mr Thabane dropped.

But analysts say this sort of blackmail should not even move Dr Majoro, unless of course he really has any skeletons in his cupboard.

His real concern- the analysts say- should be that the pronouncements and actions of the Thabane loyalists demonstrate that the factionalism and infighting in the ruling ABC are far from over.

The premier should be gravely concerned that even though he is no longer premier after being ousted by his own ABC party, Mr Thabane appears to retain strong support from a seemingly powerful clique of ABC supporters.

As if that is not enough, there is yet another powerful faction which does not owe allegiance to the premier but to the party’s national executive committee led by the ABC’s deputy leader Professor Nqosa Mahao.

In the two months that Dr Majoro has been in power, some of the Thabane loyalists have either ditched the party for the opposition AD while others have been voting with the opposition in parliament and holding not-so-secret meetings with AD officials.

What this means- according to the analysts- is that like previous governments before it, the Majoro regime has feet of clay. Given that he doesn’t even control his own ABC, Dr Majoro therefore has a real battle on his hands to ensure his government lasts its two-year term.

Even if it does, the analysts fear that he would be a lame duck who would be forced to defer to the competing ABC factions at every turn. Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for him to implement programmes aimed at stabilising the country and laying the foundation for socio-economic development.

The Majoro government has only been in place since May 2020 after Mr Thabane was forced out of power by his own party which considers him a liability due to his advanced age and allegations that he murdered his ex-wife, Lipolelo, on 14 June 2017.

Dr Majoro appeared to have overwhelming support when all ABC legislators including Mr Thabane himself eventually agreed to the termination of the previous government and endorsed him to become the new premier on 11 May 2020.

The ABC was able to forge a coalition with the country’s biggest opposition Democratic Congress (DC) and when several other small parties joined in, it appeared that Lesotho finally had a stable government for the first time in almost a decade.

But no sooner had the cabinet appointments been announced than the ugly head of ABC factionalism began to rear its head again.

Mr Thabane’s bitter loyalists did not waste time in telling Dr Majoro and the party that their allegiance lay with Mr Thabane still. They said their support could only be guaranteed if Dr Majoro used (or rather abused) his position to order the murder charges against Mr Thabane dropped.

Some like legislators like Mokherane Tsatsanyane (Stadium Area constituency) and Sello Mooki (Bobatsi) even defected to the opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD) in protest over their failure to land cabinet posts in the Majoro administration and what they said was the persecution of Mr Thabane by his successor.

Other Thabane loyalists who remained in the party caused headaches for Dr Majoro by voting with the opposition in parliament on issues like the election of the deputy speaker of parliament. Others like former ministers Chalane Phori (Small Business, Cooperatives and Marketing), Samonyane Ntsekele (Water), Tšehlo Ramarou (Public Works) and Mahala Molapo (Local Government and Chieftainship) began holding not-so-secret meetings with senior AD officials.

The AD was the second biggest party in Mr Thabane’s four party regime which lasted from June 2017 until 19 May 2020 when the former premier was forced to step down by his own party.

One such meeting was held at Mr Thabane’s Hillsview residence by the former premier’s allies and the AD officials a week ago to plot their response to the Lipolelo murder case.

A day later, Mr Phori, a self-confessed Thabane loyalist, told the Lesotho Times that they want Dr Majoro to instruct the police and the crown to drop the charges against Mr Thabane.

He said ABC MPs loyal to Mr Thabane met last Sunday to come up with a strategy to support Mr Thabane.

Asked what strategy they had agreed, Mr Phori said, “allow me not to say anything now. This is a political war”.

That same evening, he followed up his remarks with a video recording where he said Mr Thabane loyalists’ strategy is to go for broke and fight dirty by exposing what they say are Dr Majoro’s dirty secrets.

Mr Phori said Dr Majoro’s closet was ‘full of skeletons’ that the premier would not want the world to know about. To ensure that those skeletons remain hidden, Mr Phori said Dr Majoro would have to ensure that the charges against Mr Thabane are dropped.

But according to a lawyer who asked for anonymity, Dr Majoro should not fear such threats and never give in to blackmail.

“No one is above the law and Dr Majoro should not give in to demands to subvert the rule of law. Giving in would not only reduce Lesotho to a banana republic and Orwellian state where some animals are seen to be more equal than others.

“It would also damage Dr Majoro’s own reputation and that of the ABC in the eyes of the electorate and international community,” said the analyst.

He said instead of losing sleep over the threats by Phori and others, Dr Majoro’s real concern should be that despite his seemingly overwhelming endorsement by ABC MPs, factionalism in the party is very much alive.

“In fact, the ABC divisions are widening and Dr Majoro has no control over the two powerful factions that are loyal to Mr Thabane and Prof Mahao. It does not bode well for a prime minister not to have control of his own party.

“This reduces him to a lame duck who cannot implement critical decisions to stabilise the country and lay the groundwork for socio-economic development. It will be difficult for his government to last the distance unless he panders to the whims of the ABC factions. Under such circumstances, he will likely focus on ensuring that he doesn’t antagonise the factions instead of service delivery.”

Political scientist and former National University of Lesotho (NUL) lecturer Kopano Makoa concurred saying the remarks by Mr Phori were nothing but “blackmail’ aimed at arm-twisting Dr Majoro to giving in to “impossible demands”.

He said in a democratic dispensation that observed the rule of law and separation of powers, the executive should never interfere with the work of the judiciary.

Prof Makoa said Mr Phori’s threats reveal that when the ABC ousted Mr Thabane as prime minister, it however, did not resolve the deep divisions among its members.

He said the fact that Mr Thabane remained ABC leader and retained his own faction was evidence that he was still a powerful, albeit divisive force within the party.

This not only threatens to destabilise the party. More worryingly for Dr Majoro, it may affect his ability to deliver on his mandate as prime minister, Prof Makoa said.

“Although the ABC parliamentarians appeared to bury the hatchet and united to vote against Mr Thabane’s government, the various factions have remained to this day.

“Dr Majoro’s position as prime minister is on shaky ground. But he can survive if he remains steadfast as leader of the coalition government and allows the rule of law to take its course in line with the constitution,” Prof Makoa said.

NUL political science lecturer Mohlomi Mahlelebe described Mr Phori and other Thabane loyalists’ demands for the murder charges to be dropped as “political grandstanding”.  He said Dr Majoro should not be pressured into violating the constitution by interfering with the work of the judiciary. Like Prof Makoa, he said the Thabane loyalists worryingly painted a picture of a dysfunctional ABC riven by internal divisions which could affect Dr Majoro’s ability to deliver on his mandate to stabilise the country.

Dr Mahlelebe said apart from the threats by Mr Phori, the defections of Messrs Tsatsanyane and Mooki to the AD, showed that there were deep-seated divisions within the ABC which did not augur well for Dr Majoro’s government.

“Although the factions within the ABC appeared to unite to bring down Mr Thabane’s government, some ABC members were against the move, hence the defections to the AD which later occurred,” he said.

Prominent scholars, Khabele Matlosa and Victor Shale, concurred saying getting rid of Mr Thabane does not appear to have solved the divisions in the ABC.  They said Dr Majoro got a rude awakening when Messrs Tsatsanyane and Mooki defected to the AD shortly after his ascension to power.

They said the subsequent decisions by 24 ABC MPs to vote with the opposition on crucial issues such as the election of a deputy speaker of parliament pointed to the “fragility” of the new government and that of Dr Majoro himself.

When all has been said and done, the analysts say, Dr Majoro should not lose sleep over the “outrageous and vile” threats aimed at blackmailing him into subverting due process. Those are empty threats and there is probably nothing to them.

What the premier should focus on is proving that he is a good leader by delivering a clear vision and programme of action to improve the lives of Basotho.  The fact that he has not done so in any comprehensive way is a cause for worry.

The post Majoro govt has feet of clay: analysts appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Bataung Moeketsi

ECONET Telecom Lesotho and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology yesterday donated a furnished two-roomed house and groceries to four orphaned siblings in Moshoeshoe II, Maseru.

The donation is worth over M50 000.

The house was built using finances from Econet’s philanthropic arm, HigherLife Foundation Lesotho while the bricks were from Limkokwing’s Heal the World Foundation initiative.

The handover ceremony was attended by Econet chief executive officer Dennis Plaatjies and public relations manager Puleng Masoabi. Limkokwing’s registrar Moroka Hoohlo and deputy principal secretary in the Ministry of Social Development ‘Mahlapane Makakole also attened. HigherLife Foundation country manager Kaibe Mokoma, Moshoeshoe II area chief Motlatsi Mabote and reserve chief Lerotholi Seeiso were also present.

The beneficiaries are 26-year-old Thabiso ‘Melaeli who takes care of his younger siblings Tumo (23), Relebohile (21) and Moliehi (16). Mr ‘Melaeli has taken care of his three siblings since 2017, when their grandmother died.

The quartet lived in a dilapidated house and has struggled to make ends meet until Mr Mabote requested for Econet’s assistance.

The telecommunications giant had previously erected a base station in the area which sparked Mr Mabote’s relationship with the company.

Mr Plaatjies told guests that his company sets aside two percent of its annual revenue to be used towards educating vulnerable and orphaned children.

“When chief Mabote approached us, he mentioned orphaned, vulnerable children and that aroused our interest,” Mr Plaatjies said.

“We had to come and see what he was referring to and this is what we found,” he said pointing at the dilapidated structure which remains in the yard.

Mr Plaatjies thanked the children’s neighbour, ‘Maseromo Borotho, who provided water for construction of the house.

Mr Hoohlo said: “Limkokwing University, like other universities, has to show its responsibility towards the community by lending a hand where help is needed”.

“We have an initiative called Heal the World whose mission is to ensure that the vulnerable children get assistance to live better lives.”

For her part, Ms Makakole said she was proud of the community’s efforts to provide for the vulnerable siblings.

Mr ‘Melaeli thanked Econet, Limkokwing and the chief for their assistance as the old house was nearing collapse.

He said over the years, they have survived on piece jobs and are happy for the house and furniture as they could not afford it.

Ms Masoabi said they have already started construction of a pit latrine for the family while engagements were at an advanced stage for water and electricity connection.

She also said they were arranging for the youngest child’s education to be funded by HighLife Foundation.

The post Econet, Limkokwing rescue orphans appeared first on Lesotho Times.