Mohalenyane Phakela

THE High Court was this week turned into a battleground as lawyers representing Vodacom Lesotho and the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) sought to outfox each other in the two sides’ high stakes war over the LCA’s moves to stop the mobile communications giant from operating in the country.

Justice Keketso Moahloli heard arguments from both sides to finality and reserved judgement to an unspecified date, saying he first needed to consider all the submissions which made.

The legal battle stems from the 7 October 2020 decision by the LCA to revoke Vodacom’s operating licence on the grounds that it had failed to comply with the authority’s directive to pay a M40, 2 million fine.

The LCA had initially fined Vodacom M134 million for what it said were serious infractions since 2015 including “submitting audited financial statements that were unaccompanied by a certification issued by an independent external auditor”.

Vodacom was ordered to immediately pay M40, 2 million, representing 30 percent of the entire fine imposed on it. The remaining M93, 8 million (70 percent) was suspended for five years on condition that Vodacom does not commit further offences in contravention of its regulatory obligations within that period.

The fine ought to have been paid on 7 October 2020.  When it was not paid, the LCA decided to revoke Vodacom’s operating licence the following day.

This prompted Vodacom to file an urgent High Court application for an interim order nullifying the revocation. The interim order was duly granted by Justice Thamsanqa Nomngcongo paving the way for Vodacom to continue providing services pending the finalisation of its application for a final order against the LCA decision.

The chairman of the board of LCA, the LCA and Ms Matela are first to third respondents respectively.

In terms of the final reliefs sought, Vodacom wants the court to nullify the LCA’s decision to revoke its licence and to fine it M134 million.

It also wants the court to declare as unlawful, the LCA’s decision to include M-Pesa revenues as part of telecommunications revenue when calculating the regulatory fees Vodacom is expected to pay for its mobile communications licence.

In his submissions this week, Vodacom’s lawyer, Advocate Motiea Teele, accused the LCA chief executive officer (CEO), ‘Mamarame Matela, of usurping the LCA board’s powers to pursue her own personal vendetta against the telecommunications giant.

On the other hand, LCA lawyer, Adv Thabo Mpaka, blasted Vodacom for hiding behind politicians instead of dealing with the charges that the LCA had levelled against it.

Such was the intensity of the exchanges that at one stage Adv Teele had to ask Justice Moahloli to order Ms Matela to stop interjecting him as he was making his submissions.

Ms Matela would constantly whisper inaudibly to an unidentified woman seated next to her while Adv Teele was making his arguments. This went on until Justice Moahloli ordered complete silence in response to Adv Teele’s request.

In his submissions, Adv Teele argued that Ms Matela had acted without the approval of the board when she fined Vodacom and revoked its licence.

“The LCA board may delegate its powers to its chairperson or any of its members but such a person may exercise the authority with the discretion of the board,” Adv Teele argued.

“The third respondent (Ms Matela) is only a member of the LCA board. She cannot purport to act as the board when she was not given the delegation to enforce its proceedings. If she had the delegation, she could have carried out the process and still reported to the board which would exercise its mind on the issue.

“She confuses her powers of managing day to day LCA activities with enforcement powers. The law says it is the board which has such powers. The board is the authority itself and not the CEO. Why were the determinations not made by the board sitting as a whole? It is a clear indication that the third respondent acted ultra vires (beyond her powers).”

Adv Teele also questioned why Ms Matela appeared to be in a hurry to implement her decisions despite that the law prescribed that Vodacom ought to have been given 14 days to react before the LCA could enforce its decision to fine the mobile communications company.

He alleged that Ms Matela was simply pursuing her personal vendetta against Vodacom which became evident earlier this year when she wrote to Vodacom Lesotho’s parent company, Vodafone Group in London, accusing its subsidiaries in South Africa and Lesotho of funding regime change, money laundering and terrorism in this country.

In her letter to Vodafone, Ms Matela also accused Vodacom South Africa chairperson Jabu Moleketi and his Vodacom Lesotho counterpart, Matjato Moteane, of instigating a campaign to get her fired because she had become a thorn in the flesh of Vodacom Lesotho by constantly demanding that it complies with the country’s licensing regulations.

She alleges that the Vodacom bosses even offered then First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane a M2 million bribe to arrange for Communications, Science and Technology Minister Thesele Maseribane to be reshuffled from his post to make way for a new minister who would remove or suspend her.

She alleges this would have paved the way for the appointment of another person as LCA boss who would ensure that Vodacom Lesotho directors “remain in office to further unlawful activities in Lesotho unabated”.

The reshuffle was supposed to have occurred on 14 March 2020 during the tenure of the previous Thomas Thabane-led four parties coalition which comprised of the latter’s All Basotho Convention (ABC), former Deputy Prime Minister Monyane Moleleki’s Alliance of Democrats (AD), then and current Labour and Employment Minister Keketso Rantšo’s Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) and Chief Maseribane’s Basotho National Party (BNP). It never happened though.

Mr Thabane was forced to step down by his own ABC party in May this year. He was replaced by former Finance Minister and ABC legislator Moeketsi Majoro.

In her 13 March 2020 letter to Vodafone, Ms Matela does not say whether Ms Thabane accepted the M2 million inducement to get Chief Maseribane reshuffled.

She, however, warned that had the reshuffle gone ahead the next day, she would have been left with no choice but to appeal to the international community as well as report Vodafone to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the United Kingdom’s communications regulator, OfCom.

Given this background of her “biased”, Ms Matela ought to have recused herself instead of personally pushing for Vodacom’s ouster, Adv Teele argued this week.

“Rule 50(3) (of the LCA Regulations) contemplates that where a party seeks review, it needs to do so within 14 days and the authority (LCA) shall not implement a decision until that time has lapsed. In this case, the applicant (Vodacom) tells LCA that it intends to go to court but the third respondent (Ms Matela) ignores the authority’s own rules and moved to make a revocation – a clear indication of abuse of power.

“The LCA has been abusive to the applicant because it failed to wait for 14 days (before announcing the revocation of Vodacom’s licence). What was the hurry to impose the revocation when the applicant was still within the 14 days? The third respondent’s intention was to victimise the applicant and not solve the impasse in a court of law.

“She makes scandalous and irrelevant accusations, as far as suggesting that officers of the applicant (Vodacom) were involved in sponsoring terrorism and trying to have her removed. It is clear that she had personal grievances in accusing the applicant of treasonous acts. That disqualified her from dealing with the matter. She is accusing the applicant of anything under the sun.”

He argued that the LCA had chosen to enforce measures against Vodacom which were contrary to the powers granted to it by the Communications Act.

“These are two parties governed by the law. The LCA has been given power to investigate and even engage auditors. However, it does not have a right to seek the amendment of (LCA’s) financial statements but only seek clarity.

“Investors rely on such statements and there would be problems if they are amended. The LCA requested information from the applicant (Vodacom) which they were provided with but they said they did not believe the information. Instead of going to court, the regulator chose to enforce its own opinion,” Adv Teele argued.

On his part, Adv Mpaka argued that the LCA board had given Ms Matela the greenlight to act on its behalf. He accused Vodacom of hiding behind politicians and ignoring the serious allegations which Ms Matela levelled against it.

“It cannot be concluded that the third respondent (Ms Matela) was biased when she confronted them (Vodacom) with allegations and invited them to respond.

“The CEO has been acting under the authority of the board hence she always referenced the board in everything she said. In fact, it is the applicants (Vodacom) themselves who ran to politicians instead of acting within the law,” Adv Mpaka argued.

Adv Mpaka said that the LCA was within its rights to inquire about unclear transactions in Vodacom’s financial statements.

He also argued that Vodacom had flouted the law by engaging an audit firm in which its chairperson Mr Moteane’s sister-in-law was a partner.

“For the purposes of determining what it should charge Vodacom, the LCA relies on income statements of the licensee and this is the trial balance which will indicate the composition of Vodacom’s income.

“There was no indication of M-Pesa income on the Vodacom trial balance and when the authority asked about it, Vodacom simply picked a certain revenue which it had initially titled data and said it was M-Pesa revenue. Why should the authority rely on oral submissions when the books should speak clearly for themselves? All the authority asked was for them to classify M-Pesa revenue correctly.

“The Companies Act requires auditors to be independent. Section 15 of the Act says that no relative should be engaged as an auditor. This includes a sister-in-law even if it is not specifically stated,” Adv Mpaka argued.

He argued that the High Court should not entertain Vodacom’s application because this was purely a commercial dispute which ought to have been handled by the Commercial Division of the High Court.

He said it was not the first time Vodacom had approached the courts concerning the LCA and he did not understand why they had resorted to the High Court this time around and not its Commercial Division as they had done before. The fact of the matter is that the Commercial Court has not been operating since the death of its last judge Lisebo Chaka-Makhooane in July this year. Justice Chaka-Makhooane died of complications arising from Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Her death came barely a month after the death of fellow Judge Lebohang Molete. Their deaths left the Commercial Court without any judges. No replacements have been appointed to date and in the circumstances, Vodacom had little choice but to approach the High Court for redress.

However, Adv Mpaka argued: “it is incorrect that the High Court in its ordinary sitting has jurisdiction over this matter”.

“The Commercial Court was set up for matters involving commercial issues. If we could take any case to the High Court, then the Commercial Court would be redundant. This is not the first time they (Vodacom) are before court. Last year they properly went before the Commercial Court. What is different now because this matter is commercial in nature?

“From the beginning, it was unnecessary for applicant to have approached this court on an ex parte basis (without the respondents). In terms of Rule 50(3) of the High Court Rules, they should have approached this court for review. They waited for the eleventh hour to seek an interdict and not a review.

“I pray that this application be dismissed with costs,” Adv Mpaka argued.

However, Adv Teele replied that the High Court could not be separated from its Commercial Court and therefore their application was correctly before Justice Moahloli. He also argued that a sister-in-law was not recorded in law as a relative hence there was nothing wrong with Vodacom engaging an audit firm in which its chairperson’s sister-in-law had a stake. He also argued that M-Pesa is a financial service regulated by the Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) and not the LCA which was only a licensing authority for telecommunications hence disclosure of M-Pesa should be done at the CBL.

Having spent much of the day listening to the two sides’ submissions from about 10 am to about 4.30pm, Justice Moahloli reserved judgement to an unspecified date to give himself time to make up his mind.

The post Heated drama as Vodacom, LCA trade blows in explosive court fight appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• as the ABC’s NEC insists DPM Mokhothu should step down if charged with human trafficking

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE All Basotho Convention (ABC) says Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu, who leads its main Democratic Congress (DC) coalition partner, should step down from his post if he is charged with human trafficking. The ABC position announced by its secretary-general, Lebohang Hlaele, is the latest indication of growing rifts between the two anchor parties of the current governing coalition which took over government in May 2020.

Mr Hlaele said stepping down would be the honourable thing to do as this is exactly what ABC leader, Thomas Thabane, did in May 2020 when he stepped down from the post of prime minister. Mr Thabane was hauled to court over the 14 June 2017 murder of his ex-wife, Lipolelo Thabane.

He then launched a constitutional court application for an order that he can’t be charged while remained premier.  There has been no further action against Mr Thabane despite that he is no longer premier after his party forced him out.

The ABC party position on Mr Mokhothu was communicated by Mr Hlaele, and party spokesperson, Montoeli Masoetsa, at a press conference in Maseru yesterday. Others who attended the press conference were deputy chairperson Chalane Phori, Women’s League chairperson Malelaka Lehohla, the party’s Maseru constituency chairperson Amin Mphethe and Qacha’s Nek chairperson, Bokang Matsipa.

Those who did not attend include deputy leader Professor Nqosa Mahao, chairperson Samuel Rapapa, Deputy secretary Nkaku Kabi and deputy spokesperson, ‘Matebatso Doti.  Even though they did not necessarily have to be all present since party positions are supposed to be communicated by the secretary general and the spokesperson, it is also common cause that the ABC is riven by factions. It’s thus not clear whether Prof Mahao backs the position announced by Mr Hlaele.

Mr Rapapa last night told this publication that the press conference had been sanctioned by the party at a meeting of the NEC and district representatives on Monday.

He however, said he had been personally opposed to the holding of the press conference because the party did not hold a similar media briefing when it was announced that coalition partner and Development Planning Minister Selibe Mochoboroane would be charged with treason alongside former Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing and others.

Mr Hlaele and others held the press conference in the wake of allegations of Mr Mokhothu and other senior DC officials’ alleged complicity in human trafficking activities alongside a Pakistani, Rana Qamar.

The allegations are contained in a High Court application by an immigration officer, Mapeete Jonathan, challenging her transfer from Moshoeshoe I Airport to the head office of the immigration department in Maseru.

In her court papers filed last month, Ms Jonathan alleges that she is being transferred as punishment for refusing to allow Mr Qamar to “traffick” two Pakistanis into the country through the airport earlier this year.

She further alleges that she was reliably informed by a fellow immigration officer that Mr Qamar, who is married to a Mosotho woman, is close to Mr Mokhothu and other senior DC officials. He is said to have given the DC six campaign vehicles during the last elections in 2017, giving him leverage over the DC leadership to demand her transfer after she refused the two Pakistanis entry into the country in March this year.

Human trafficking has become a thorny issue in Lesotho and it could cost the country development assistance from the United States government.

Lesotho has been placed in tier three—the lowest tier in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2020.

US Ambassador to Lesotho, Rebecca Gonzales, is on record saying under normal circumstances, a country in Tier 3 on human trafficking like Lesotho would have already lost all development assistance from the US.

However, she said she had recommended a waiver of any punishment against Lesotho to enable Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro to act on the issue since he had only come to power recently in May this year.

She said Lesotho had until February 2021 to act against trafficking to get the country off Tier 3 and maintain its eligibility for development assistance.

These she said, included passing legislation to combat trafficking as well as ensuring that law enforcement agencies “investigate the many credible allegations of official complicity in human smuggling and human trafficking”.

Such pressure from the US government has pushed the government to take decisive measures against suspected trafficking activities.

The allegations against Mr Mokhothu and the threats by the US government to withdraw crucial development assistance over human trafficking concerns prompted the ABC to address the media on the issue yesterday. But the mere fact that the ABC saw it fit to call a press conference to berate its coalition partner instead of first seeking private discussions first, as would be expected in any cordial working environment, is seen as the latest ample confirmation that all is not well between the governing coalition’s key players.

Speaking at the press briefing, Mr Hlaele, said that the ABC was firmly against human trafficking. He said it was incumbent upon Mr Mokhothu to go to court and clear his name. He said if the deputy prime minister was charged with the crime, the ABC would then sit down to discuss the future of the coalition where the DC is the second biggest party after the ABC.

“We saw the affidavits which talk about the deputy prime minister and DC leader and our understanding is that he should go to court and clear his name,” Mr Hlaele said.

“The ABC despises human trafficking. Our party stands firm in that those who are complicit in the trafficking of people should be taken to court and justice should be done without any mercy. All Basotho regardless of status are equal before the law.

“The ABC clearly understands the demarcations between politics and rule of law hence we say every suspect must be taken to court regardless of their status. We stand against human rights abuses irrespective of who the perpetrator is.

“Our stance is clear that a person is innocent until the courts prove otherwise. When that happens, we will pronounce our stance.”

However, ABC spokesperson, Mr Masoetsa was less diplomatic. He said as soon as the police declared Mr Mokhothu a suspect in human trafficking crimes, he should step down like Mr Thabane had done.

“Now that there is an affidavit (alleging human trafficking against Mokhothu), we expect the police to take it from there with thorough investigations. When the police announce that they have tangible evidence, we will tell him (Mr Mokhothu) to step aside.

“We can’t sacrifice our (ABC) leader (Thabane) and afterwards feel pity for our political rival (Mokhothu).

“Human trafficking is a global crime which our development partners have expressed concerns about, saying our government does not appear to be doing much about it.

“It would be a shame if the trafficking of people emanates from within the government as the harsh decisions which they (development partners) will implement against us will affect even those who have no stake in those issues. We will not support that and we urge the courts to work hard regardless of who is involved,” Mr Masoetsa said.

After Mr Masoetsa’s speech, Mr Hlaele reiterated for the time being the ABC remained in partnership with the DC in government.

He also rubbished allegations that he was behind the trafficking allegations against Mr Mokhothu in order to collapse the government.

“The guilty ones are always first to make noise and look for ways to shift the blame. But the truth is that I have nothing to do with the allegations,” Mr Hlaele said.

The fact that Mr Phori attended the briefing is also a very curious matter. Mr Phori was staunchly opposed to the ABC/DC coalition unless it was led by his political grandmaster, Mr Thabane. He is one of Mr Thabane’s allies agitating for the collapse of the current coalition.

Mr Hlaele on the other hand is also said to be laying the groundwork for his ascendancy to become ABC leader. His newly found dalliance with Mr Phori, with whom he once staunchly fought while Mr Hlaele himself, was still firmly in the Mahao camp, seems noteworthy.

Meanwhile the DC secretary general secretary general Tšitso Cheba could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Last week, he accused unnamed members of the ABC’s NEC of spearheading a smear campaign against Mr Mokhothu.

Although he refused to identify the ABC members, Mr Cheba said his party had received information that “some top officials and partners in the coalition government are behind a smear campaign against the DC and its leadership”.

“We have tried to deal with this matter in a very diplomatic way. We know who is behind the smear campaign that our leader is involved in human trafficking which of course is pure lies.

“Although we cannot mention names for now, we received an intelligence report at the end of October 2020 that there were some senior ABC officials who were planning to launch an attack against the DC and its leadership,” Mr Cheba said.

The post Fresh threat to governing coalition appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Limpho Sello

DILLI-DILLI Health Centre has defied all odds by being named best health institution in terms of offering quality service by the Lesotho Nurses Association (LNA).

This was despite the institution’s incessant water and power challenges.

The health centre received the award during a recent nurses’ retreat at Marabeng, in Berea. The retreat was meant to reflect on the achievements and struggles that were encountered by the nursing fraternity in 2020.

In October this year, the Lesotho Times reported that Dilli-Dilli Health Centre had been operating for over a month without electricity and expecting mothers were forced to deliver in the dark.

As if that is not enough, the health centre also did not have running water as its borehole had dried up.

Dili-Dili Health Centre is a four-hour drive from the Quthing central business district. It serves 33 villages in the district. It also serves villagers from the Bebeza area of Eastern Cape who take advantage of the porous border.

Dilli-Dilli Health Centre nursing sister Matšeliso Ketjoane told the Lesotho Times on Tuesday that they were excited about the award as it was recognition of their commitment despite the hardships they face.

“We never gave put even when challenges could have forced us, we continued serving in excellence,” Ms Ketjoane said.

“We are grateful that there are people who saw our tireless efforts and decided to honor us. That is a real motivation which I believe will keep us going and fill us with more courage to do well.”

So dire was the situation at the health centre at the height of the challenges that at one point they used paraffin lambs to deliver babies but they persevered.

“The situation has now improved because we have running water in the houses close to the clinic. We still do not have running water inside the clinic but having water available close by makes our work much easier,” Ms Ketjoane said.

The post Dilli-Dilli Health Centre honoured for quality services appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Ntsebeng Motsoeli

A LEADING teachers’ union has called on Education and Training Minister, Ntlhoi Motsamai, to immediately announce a comprehensive plan for the reopening of schools next month, specifying how the government will protect teachers and learners from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The union’s demand follows Ms Motsamai’s announcement last week that secondary schools had been given the greenlight to start accepting applications for 2021 Grade 8 (Form A) learners.

The minister said there will be phased reopening of schools with primary schools the first to open on 4 January 2021.

Secondary schools will only open in March next year to allow Form C and Form E learners to write their 2020 final examinations which could not be written this year due to disruptions to the school calendar caused by the nationwide lockdown aimed at fighting Covid-19.

The examinations ought to have been written from October to early December 2020 but they were postponed to next year after learners lost three months of learning time. Learners sitting for their final examinations were allowed to go back to school earlier this month.

Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT) secretary general, Letsatsi Ntsibolane, said despite announcing changes to the school calendar for the coming year, Ms Motsamai still failed to provide adequate information regarding how the government planned to ensure a smooth teaching and learning programme.

Mr Ntsibolane said among other things, Ms Motsamai failed to explain how Grade 8 learners will be accommodated in secondary schools when the 2020 academic year had been extended to March 2021.

Mr Ntsibolane said the minister also ought to have outlined measures the government will put in place to fight Covid-19 given that some schools have already recorded infections since opening earlier this month.

Twenty-six learners at St James High School in Mokhotlong recently tested positive for Covid-19.

Mr Ntsibolane said the least the minister could have done was to explain how the government intended to ensure there were no infections in schools in the 2021 academic year.

“The minister’ statement lacks crucial information such as how the government plan to accommodate the 2021 Grade 8 learners in the mist of the extended 2020 academic year,” Mr Ntsibolane said.

“Primary schools are opening on 4 January and there is no plan in place to ensure the safety of learners and the teachers from Covid-19. The minister’s statement has caused great confusion and I have been getting calls from principals seeking clarity,” Mr Ntsibolane said.

In her statement last Thursday, Ms Motsamai said all public and government funded secondary schools were bound by the Education Act of 2010 to accept Grade 8 applications for the 2021 academic year. She then implored them to do as such.

“All government-funded schools are bound by the Education Act of 2010 to abide by the guidelines for the learners’ intake. Application forms will be ready for collection from district education offices on 5 January 2021,” Ms Motsamai said.

A ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the minister’s statement was meant to counter rumours that 2020 Grade 7 learners will not proceed to Grade 8 next year but would be forced to repeat because of the disruptions caused by Covid-19 which forced schools to close in March 2021.

The officer said a more comprehensive plan for the 2021 schools’ calendar will be published next week.

Ms Motsamai

The post Teachers union blasts minister over schools’ calendar   appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Ntsebeng Motsoeli | Limpho Sello

THREE more Coronavirus (Covid-19) related deaths were recorded yesterday, bringing the total number of deaths so far in the country to 51.

The number of infections also rose by 148 cases in just 24 hours to 2725 on Wednesday from 2577 on Tuesday.

This according to the latest Covid-19 figures released yesterday by the National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC).

All in all, 31 256 tests have been conducted in a country of 2, 1 million people.

It is highly likely that the new infections have been fuelled by the relaxation of border controls between Lesotho and South Africa.

South Africa is fast inching towards the one million mark for infections with 940 212 cases recorded as of yesterday.

Lesotho’s new infections could also be due to the re-opening of entertainment facilities such as night clubs and public bars.

Concerned by the spike in infections, Health Minister Motlatsi Maqelepo last week said although they would not be closing down entertainment venues, the government will begin testing revellers before they are allowed entry into festivals and other entertainment events.

Mr Maqelepo said they would use the rapid test kits which give results in 10 minutes.

“Although they are not 100 percent accurate, the rapid test results will show us where there is a risk of infections. When we identify the risk, we will isolate the suspects and refer them for a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test which is 100 percent accurate,” Ms Maqelepo said.

He said the testing expenses will be incurred by the government meaning that those tested will not have to pay anything.

“We have enough testing consumables and they should last until March 2021. But should the need arise to re-stock due to the influx of people during the festive season, we will easily be able to do so because we have already set aside a budget for such a contingency,” he said without stating how much had been set aside.

He also appealed to the nation to continue observing public health protocols including washing hands with soap, using approved sanitisers, wearing masks at all times in public and social distancing as part of efforts to contain the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, reports from Quthing indicate that more than 5000 people entered the country through undesignated points of entry in the Tele area on Tuesday alone.

The use of illegal entry points comes despite the recent government announcement that all Lesotho nationals returning home should use the official border gates and they will not be penalised even if they have overstayed in South Africa.

The waiver of penalties is meant to ensure that those coming in through official entry points are screened and tested for Covid-19 to prevent the importation and spread of the virus in the country.

Quthing district administrator, Motete Mokonyane, yesterday told the Lesotho Times that the district was burdened with the huge influx of Basotho returning from South Africa through its porous border.

He said this had led the Quthing District Covid-19 secretariat to deploy more staffers as well as increase screening and testing points near the Tele River.

The thousands of Basotho crossing illegally are therefore being tested without being arrested for using illegal entry point to return to the country.

“We have porous entry points that people are using right now although the influx is greater at the Tele River. On Tuesday alone, about 5000 people crossed into country through the Tele River where they were screened by health ministry personnel.

“I have been in contact with the NACOSEC national secretariat and they have promised to send three more vehicles to help our police officers, health personnel at the screening points.

“We have been talking about the porous border at Quthing for a long time and Tele is one of the famous routes which Basotho from all districts use to return home.

“It was a wise move to establish screening centres at the Tele River because given the rate at which people cross at this illegal route, there were going to be more infections if people were allowed to go to their various destinations without being tested,” Mr Mokonyane said.

Contacted for comment on their state of preparedness to deal with the virus this festive season, NACOSEC Risk Communications Manager Baroane Phenethi yesterday said they had distributed various resources to the districts to deal with the threats posed by the disease.

“Personnel and vehicles have been sent out to the districts and they are providing assistance in places like Quthing which have reported an influx of Basotho illegally entering the country through the Tele River,” Mr Phenethi said.

He added that NACOSEC personnel had started working shifts to provide services 24 hours a day.

The post More Covid infections, deaths recorded appeared first on Lesotho Times.

…women lead fight for compensation from govt, Chinese contractor

Pascalinah Kabi | Mohalenyane Phakela

THE securing of investment for a large-scale project is usually a cause for celebration in most African countries as they are often starved of meaningful infrastructural developments to provide much needed services to ordinary people.

Sod-turning events for such projects are usually attended by presidents, prime ministers, foreign investors and other well-heeled officials who never miss the opportunity to tell host communities how fortunate they are to be chosen to host such large-scale projects of national importance.

Pomp and fanfare characterised the December 2018 sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of the construction of the M1, 8 billion Mpiti to Sehlabathebe Road.

The road is one of the key infrastructure projects being undertaken as a collaborative effort between the Government of Lesotho and Government of China, facilitated through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Other FOCAC projects are the Maseru Hospital and Eye Clinic to replace Queen Elizabeth II Hospital and the construction of the Hlotse multi-purpose dam among others.

The Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China provided a concessional loan of M1, 3 billion to fund the Mpiti to Sehlabathebe project. The Lesotho government injected an additional M500 million to bring the total cost of the project to M1, 8 billion.

When complete, the 91 km road will become a 7-meter-wide double-lane road, shortening the driving time from Mpiti to Sehlabathebe from 4 hours to about 1,5 hours.

Villagers’ transport woes would be solved and tourism in the picturesque area would also be boosted by the construction of the wide-tarred road, the villagers were told by government officials and the Chinese contractor, Qingjing Group.

There was every reason to look forward to the project with joy but barely two years later, the host communities in the Qacha’s Nek district are up in arms with the government and the contractor.

They are singing what has become a familiar refrain in virtually every nook and cranny of Lesotho which has been chosen as a site for a large-scale project.

It is a song of pain and grief over broken promises to compensate them for the loss of their land, houses, pastures and livelihood.

It is also a lamentation about the contractor’s failure to prioritise the recruitment of locals for unskilled menial jobs.

For Donkey Nyakiso, an 86-year-old woman from Ha Mosoeu village, the situation is even more poignant because at her age, the loss of her fields means the source of her livelihood. She cannot begin to learn a new trade to get by.

It also represents a setback in the fight to emancipate women who have fought so hard and continue fighting for equal access to resources such as land.

She was born and raised in the scenic Ha Mosoeu valley. Viewed from the dizzying heights of the mountaintops, her village strikes one as a beautiful journey into the belly of the giant mountains of the area.

When the Lesotho Times crew visited the area over the weekend, they found Ms Nyakiso looking forlorn as she shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight while scanning the horizon as if searching for answers as to what the future holds in store for her.

They say lightning does not strike twice but it is clearly a case of double jeopardy in her case. Her fields, which for years gave her decent maize yields enough to sell the surplus, are among those which were expropriated as part of the road construction project. It is a déjà vu feeling for her because many years ago, her family was also forcibly moved from their original Kampong, Qacha’s Nek, home to make way for the establishment of a Roman Catholic Church mission.

“I was born in Kampong where my father operated a dairy business. The government expelled us to make way for the establishment of a Roman Catholic Church mission. My father had been running the dairy business from 1949 to 1960 when we were expelled,” Ms Nyakiso said.

However, back then the situation was ameliorated by the fact that the church ensured that they were compensated with land in Ha Mosoeu which enabled Ms Nyakiso’s father to make a fresh start, this time as a grain farmer.

“I remember my father saying the three fields we had been allocated were my inheritance and no one would ever take them away from me.”

For decades, Ms Nyakiso said the fields have given her bountiful yields of as much as 80 bags of maize each.

Such harvests enabled the family to sell the surplus to a miller in the Qacha’s Nek town.

But all this has now become a painful thing of the past after her fields were expropriated by the state without prior warning to become part of the Mpiti to Sehlabathebe Road project.

“I was sitting here at my house when I saw people erecting poles on my field without informing me. The area chief never called us for a public gathering to inform us that our fields were going to be taken away from us. We are happy that there is a road development in our area but I am unhappy that my land has been taken away from me without my consent.

“I was only told that the chief had confirmed that I was the legitimate owner of the fields. I was told that they were going ahead with the road construction without compensating or even telling us how much we are going to get for the lost land. I am inconsolable because the land was a special gift from my late father. It was a precious gold that my father left for me,” Ms Nyakiso said as she buried her head in hands to ensure the Lesotho Times crew would not see her tears.

Another woman, ‘Malesia Pheko (57) is in a similar position. She is also angered by the decision to unilaterally grab her land without any consultations.

“They took my field without consulting me. It has been a year since they placed concrete pipes on my field and I have not been able to plant any crops. My family comprises of 12 individuals and we are largely dependent on farming. It is going to be really a tough year for us because of the disrespectful Chinese investor,” Ms Pheko said. She said they would now be forced to divert funds meant for school fees for children and other concerns to buying maize meal now that they cannot farm their field.

“My husband retired from mine work in 2018. We sat down and agreed that we would sparingly use our money because we no longer have a stable income. We agreed not to use our money on things like maize meal and vegetables but because of this, we are now forced to buy maize meal. We are a big family of 12, so you can understand how much we will have to spend on maize meal alone,” Ms Pheko said.

The women are not alone in their complaints. Even local business owners are crying foul over the contractor’s insistence that they lower the asking price for their goods for it to procure supplies from them. They say this will drive them out of business.

Local hardware operators in Qacha’s Nek said instead of boosting their businesses, Qingjing Group was sabotaging them by asking them to lower their prices, failing which they would procure goods elsewhere or even from local Chinese dealers who they claimed were not forced to lower their prices.

A businessman, Mpota Moiloa, said he had gone out of his way to protect Qingjing when it was sued by a local for quarrying sand on his site without a licence.

“I have been operating a hardware shop since 2000. I have also been mining sand since 1991.

“I am currently entangled in a lawsuit with a fellow local after Qingjing asked me to step in and assume responsibility on their behalf on the grounds that they would be penalised more as a foreign concern. They said they would repay me with favours when it came to the awarding of tenders.

“But when I asked to supply them with cement, they told me to join the queue of those who had applied to be tenderers. They said if they considered my tender, they would want me to sell them a bag of cement for only M95. Mind you we buy a bag of cement for M97 in Matatiele (across the border in South Africa). I refused and they said they would not do business with me.

“They now buy from local Chinese dealers and when they do not have any stock, they go to other Chinese dealers in Mohale’s Hoek. We had hoped we would benefit from the road construction in our area but we are suffering. My business is falling apart,” Mr Moiloa said.

On her part, local Chief ‘Malireko Sehahle said Qingjing Group had not fulfilled any of the promises it made to the villagers when it began work on the project.

“When the construction work started, we sat down with the main contractor to discuss how the community would benefit or be compensated for the loss of fields.

“Among other things, the community wanted water tanks in exchange for quarrying by the Chinese contractor. I noticed that the contractor never objected to any of the community’s demands and promised to fulfil them. But to date, they have not done anything to the benefit of the villagers.

“I think the problem is that we never asked them to sign any document where they committed to anything. It was just a verbal agreement. I am still hopeful that the community council will be able to solve the impasse. The contractor has now committed to start compensating villagers for the loss of the land from January next year,” Chief Sehahle said. He could not say how much each villager would receive.

There is no clear compensation policy in Lesotho hence the conflicts which always ensue whenever a large-scale project is being implemented.

Section 56 of the 2010 Land Act merely states that “the person deprived of such property shall be entitled to compensation at market value”.

“The obligation to compensate shall lie with the body conducting the expropriation.

“In assessing compensation, regard shall be had – (a) to the value of the property as certified by an odd number of valuers one of whom shall be the Government valuer, having regard to the present and replacement value; and (b) to the expenses incidental to any necessary change of residence or of place of business,” the act further states.

This lack of clear compensation laws leave host communities at the mercy of the state and investors hence the never-ending conflicts.

The post M1, 8 billion road project leaves sour taste in locals’ mouths appeared first on Lesotho Times.

’Marafaele Mohloboli

HOME Affairs Minister, Motlalentoa Letsosa, says the government has begun deporting foreign nationals who came into the country illegally. He said the government was conducting operations to discover more illegal immigrants and “very soon there will be large scale deportations”.

Addressing a press conference in Maseru yesterday, Mr Letsosa said the deportations already underway followed the arrests of foreign nationals, mostly from Bangladesh and Pakistan.

He said they suspected that the foreigners’ illegal entry and stay in the country had been corruptly facilitated by officials at the Ministry of Trade’s One Stop Business Centre which facilitates permits for foreign investors.

He said among those who had already been deported were Cameroonians and Ethiopians.

“We are still on the lookout for a Bangladesh national who was detained at the Moshoeshoe I International Airport on 13 December 2020 before he mysteriously disappeared into thin air,” Mr Letsosa said, adding, “The matter has been reported to the police and a case has been opened”.

He said some of the nationals were arrested during a recent campaign to “clean the country” of illegal immigrants.

“Some of them were discovered in Qacha’s Nek. They did not even have their passports saying these had been surrendered to their ‘big bosses’ who brought them into the country. These people were said to be important managers of shops and other businesses but they looked too shabby for that. It therefore shows that there is a lot that still needs to be done to find others who have come into the country illegally. There will be more deportations of the illegal foreign nationals,” Mr Letsosa said.

Just over a fortnight ago, the government deported three Pakistanis and a Bangladesh national in a move Mr Letsosa said was aimed at combatting human trafficking.

The four are Shamaz Idrees, Nasir Abbas, Shahzad Khan (all Pakistanis) and Hussain Sohag (a Bangladeshi).

“Their permits were authentic but the businesses they claimed to own or work for are non-existent.

“We did our own investigations and didn’t find any of the mentioned businesses hence we deported them,” Mr Letsosa said at the time.

Mr Letsosa is also deputy leader of the Democratic Congress (DC), the second biggest party after the All Basotho Convention (ABC) in the current governing coalition.

The DC faces allegations of victimising an immigration officer, ’Mapeete Jonathan, for refusing to allow two Pakistanis to enter the country illegally back in March this year.

Her allegations have however, been dismissed by Mr Letsosa who said his party and government were committed to ending the scourge of human trafficking which has seen the country being placed in tier three—the lowest tier in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2020.

Such pressure from the US government has pushed the government to take decisive measures against suspected trafficking activities.

Addressing the media this week, Mr Letsosa said they were working on a strategic plan for the years 2021 to 2025 to “enhance our efforts to fight trafficking in persons”.

The post Deportations of foreign nationals loom appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Bereng Mpaki

LIQHOBONG mine has received a boost after its diamonds’ value doubled on the global market having performed sluggishly earlier this year on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.

November trial sales saw the average price of the mine’s diamonds doubling from US$40 per carat to US$84.

The mine’s declining market performance had forced the mine to temporarily suspend operations for 12 months from June this year to May 2021.

The mine has therefore, been under care and maintenance with skeletal staff of about 60 left on site while another 600 employees and contractors were laid off.

Liqhobong Mining Development Company (LMDC) is 75 percent majority owned by United Kingdom company Firestones Diamonds with remaining 25 percent is held by the Lesotho government.

Liqhobong mine site manager, Ntsane Makhetha told the Lesotho Times in an interview this week that global diamond prices were recovering and were looking forward to reopening the mine next year.

“We have done a trial sale of a limited number of diamonds in November and the global market seems to be stabilising as we were able fetch prices that are similar to those we had before Covid-19,” Mr Makhetha said.

“The average price of the diamonds we sold was around US$84 per carat, which is up from US$40 per carat that we recorded after Covid-19 disruptions to the market.

“In March 2020 we were fetching close to US$40 per carat, which is less than half of what we expected to fetch.”

He said the mine’s management decision to suspend operations for 12 months came on the back of the poor March market performance.

“The key reason was that if we had continued to operate, we would have continued to operate on a loss, especially considering the uncertainty of the market as we were unsure when the diamond market would re-open.”

The mine will now carry out another trial sale early next year to further assess the state of the market before making a decision about reopening.

The management is also grappling with a US$80 million (about M1, 168 billion) debt owed to ABSA bank which must be restructured.

Mr Makhetha said the debt restructuring has been necessitated by the negative impact of Covid-19 on the mine’s finances. Debt restructuring negotiations started this month and are already ongoing.

“As soon as this (debt restructuring) is completed, an announcement will be made about when the mine will open,” Mr Makhetha said.

The post Diamond market recovery boosts Liqhobong reopening prospects appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• only 20 blood units in the blood bank this Christmas as Basotho shun donation campaigns

Limpho Sello

A BLOOD shortage of crisis proportions looms this festive season amid revelations that the Lesotho Blood Transfusion Services (LBTS) has only got 20 blood units sourced from Mokoanyane Barracks in Maseru yesterday.

This means that the LBTS can only cater for 20 patients before its stock completely runs out.

This was revealed by the LBTS’ Principal Laboratory Technician, Khotso Kalake, in an interview with the Lesotho Times yesterday.

The LBTS has been facing challenges in collecting enough blood after the Ministry of Education and Training imposed stringent regulations that made it difficult for the LBTS to source blood from learners who were among the biggest blood donors in the county.

The regulations were imposed after parents complained to the ministry that they were not consulted over the blood donations sought from their children.

Last October, a similar blood crisis played out in the country.  It got to the extent where patients requiring blood transfusions were asked by hospitals to bring their relatives or other donors to give them blood. At the time, Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital (also known as Tšepong) — the country’s largest referral hospital — said the blood shortages delayed operations on patients and other life-saving medical procedures.

Even Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein was turning away Basotho patients referred without their own blood units.

Commenting on the latest situation, Mr Kalake said all the blood units collected last week had already been distributed to the health facilities which requested blood, leaving them without any supplies.

He said the blood situation was dire and it would have been far worse had it not been for the 20 blood units they received from Mokoanyane Barracks.

“We are in a very serious crisis and we can only hope that the blood units we have already distributed to various health facilities will be enough to cope with demand this festive season,” Mr Kalake said. He appealed to the nation to generously donate blood in the coming days to ensure there is enough blood in the new year.

“We call on all Basotho to come forward and donate blood now and even after Christmas to enable us to have reserves going into the new year.”

He said the blood shortages were worrying especially at this time of the year when demand for blood is usually high due to motor vehicle accidents and stabbings as people celebrate the Christmas and new year holidays.

The post Major crisis as blood bank runs dry appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Herbert Moyo

THE previous Thomas Thabane-led government’s failure to decisively deal with the scourge of human trafficking has come back to the haunt the country.

This amid revelations that Lesotho has joined the likes of Afghanistan, North Korea, Burma, Syria, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe on the United States (US) government’s list of rogue nations prohibited from receiving any development assistance.

Lesotho has been listed among the rogue nations despite that it has until the of February 2021 to have decisively dealt with the human trafficking concerns.

This means that although the US’ Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) on 15 December 2020 “reaffirmed its support for continuing compact development in Lesotho”, the country will not be eligible for the multi-million-dollar second MCC compact and all other forms of development assistance from the US unless it urgently addresses the human trafficking concerns.

And time is fast running out because just over a month remains before the lapse of the February 2021 deadline the US government set for Lesotho to have addressed the human trafficking concerns.

Other low-income countries on the US rogue nations’ list are Cambodia, Eritrea, Comoros, Papua New Guinea, Sudan and South Sudan.

According to a recent report by the MCC, Lesotho and other “prohibited countries” are ineligible to receive US economic assistance in the 2021 financial year due to various infractions listed in the US’ Foreign Assistance Act.

The infractions vary from country to country and in the case of Burma and Cambodia, these have to do with the two countries’ alleged failure to address concerns over their human rights records as well as the failure to take effective steps to strengthen regional security and stability.

Lesotho’s fellow SADC country, Zimbabwe has for close to two decades been on the prohibited countries’ list as punishment for the previous Robert Mugabe’s administration’s failure to restore the rule of law as well as respect constitutionally enshrined freedoms of expression, association and assembly.

Zimbabwe is also being punished for failing to respect   property rights after the Mugabe regime seized land from close to 6000 mostly white commercial farmers ostensibly to redress colonial injustices which disadvantaged that country’s majority black population.

The US government has said that the Emmerson Mnangagwa government which took over in the aftermath of a coup against Mr Mugabe in November 2017 has done little to address the human rights concerns hence Zimbabwe remains among rogue nations.

Like Lesotho, the likes of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Comoros, Papua New Guinea and Nicaragua have been included on the rogue nations list due to their failure to address human trafficking concerns.

“Lesotho is ineligible to receive foreign assistance due to its status as a Tier 3 country under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000,” the MCC states in its report titled: “Countries that Would Be Candidate Countries but for Legal Provisions that Prohibit Assistance”.

Three years have passed since Lesotho’s eligibility for the second MCC compact was first announced by the MCC board and the US government. However, a concrete agreement specifying how much the country will be given for various development projects has remained elusive because Lesotho has still not managed to meet crucial eligibility criteria including addressing human trafficking concerns.

In fact, as indicated by the MCC in its report, Lesotho will not only completely lose out on the second MCC compact if the February 2021 deadline is not met, it will lose all forms of US development assistance. These include crucial funding for HIV/AIDS programmes which have helped the country meet its targets regarding the testing and treatment of people living with the virus.

US Ambassador to Lesotho, Rebecca Gonzales, issued a similar warning two months ago. She said besides the second MCC compact, Lesotho would also lose out on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) facility which allows it to export goods duty-free to the US.

Should the country lose out on AGOA, this could cost 45 000 factory workers their jobs as the textile industry is anchored on the duty-free exports to the US market.

AGOA gives duty-free and quota-free access to the US market to eligible sub-Saharan African countries including Lesotho. The legislation, which was approved by the US Congress in May 2000, is meant to incentivise African countries to open their economies and build free markets.

It was renewed for another 10 years in June 2015 as the AGOA Extension & Enhancement Act and amended to allow the US to withdraw, suspend or limit benefits if designated AGOA countries do not comply with its eligibility criteria.

The law obligates the American president to designate countries eligible to benefit from the trade facility on an annual basis after undergoing a review process. Among the main eligibility criteria for the facility are a market-based economy, adherence to the rule of law, the implementation of mechanisms to combat corruption and upholding of human rights.

On the other hand, the MCC was established by the US Congress in 2004 as an innovative foreign aid agency to help lead the fight against global poverty by working with selected countries to identify requisite areas in need of funding support.

Before qualifying for funding, countries have to meet a number of conditions similar to those of AGOA.

Compacts are large, five-year grants for countries that pass the eligibility criteria. Lesotho received its first five-year MCC compact worth US$362, 5 million (more than M3 billion) in July 2007.

Among others, the $362, 5 million compact funded the construction of the Metolong Dam as well as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to mitigate the negative economic impact of poor maternal health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.

In 2015, the MCC decided against renewing the compact programme due to rampant human rights abuses under then Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s government.

The matter was then reconsidered after Mr Mosisili’s ouster in June 2017.

Lesotho became eligible for the second compact in December 2017 after former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s second coalition government.

However, the Thabane administration, which lasted until May 2020 when it was replaced by the current Moeketsi Majoro-led coalition, was accused of failing to improve on the human rights situation including halting police brutality against citizens and ending corruption.

The former government also dragged its feet on the multi-sector reforms process. It even missed the May 2019 deadline set by SADC for the full implementation of the constitutional and security sector reforms. All of these issues were part of the eligibility criteria for the second MCC compact.

In addition, the Thabane government was accused of paying lip service to repeated warnings to address human trafficking concerns.

Two months ago, Ms Gonzales revealed that due to its failure to deal with human trafficking, Lesotho had been placed in Tier 3—the lowest tier in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2020.

She warned at the time that Lesotho risked losing out on a second MCC compact, AGOA benefits and all other forms of US development assistance if the Moeketsi Majoro-led government did not address the human trafficking concerns by February 2021.

Ms Gonzales said, under normal circumstances, a country in Tier 3 on human trafficking like Lesotho would have already lost all development assistance from the US.

However, she said she had recommended a waiver of any punishment against Lesotho to enable Dr Majoro to act on the issue since he had only assumed office a few months ago. His failure to take concrete steps forthwith would however result in Lesotho losing out.

The steps, she said, include passing legislation to combat trafficking as well as ensuring that law enforcement agencies “investigate the many credible allegations of official complicity in human smuggling and human trafficking”.

“If investigations uncover evidence that incriminates any person or persons, then prosecution must be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. There must be accountability for such heinous crimes.

“Official complicity in TIP is the worst form of corruption—using one’s high office to profit from the buying and selling of humans is outright appalling,” Ms Gonzales said.

And with just over a month remaining before the February 2021, the government has to race against time to get the country off tier 3.

So far, the only tangible development has been the passing of the Anti-Trafficking (Amendment) Bill of 2020 which seeks to combat human trafficking by imposing lengthy and even life imprisonment on those convicted of the crime.

Although the approval of the bill by parliament last month is a giant step towards meeting the US government’s demands to deal decisively with the scourge of human trafficking, much more still needs to be done including investigating, arresting and prosecuting suspected traffickers who allegedly include government officials.

It remains a tall order to ensure that all of this is accomplished in time to meet the February 2021.

What makes the task harder is the US demand for top government officials to be investigated and prosecuted.

The trafficking issue has caused serious tensions between the two main governing coalition partners, the All Basotho Convention (ABC) and the Democratic Congress (DC).

The DC leadership, including its leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu have been accused of complicity in trafficking activities alongside a Pakistani, Rana Qamar.

The allegations are contained in a High Court application by an immigration officer, Mapeete Jonathan, challenging her transfer from Moshoeshoe I Airport to the head office of the immigration department in Maseru.

Last Wednesday, the ABC’s national executive committee (NEC) said it would not protect Mr Mokhothu and he should step down from his post if he is charged with human trafficking.

Mr Mokhothu has since dismissed the allegations “as the work of Satanists” bent on tarnishing his and the DC’s image ahead of the 2022 elections.

The post Lesotho joins North Korea, Zim on US rogue nations list appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• as he refuses to back down in fight with the DC
• while DC youth league vows to protect Mokhothu

’Marafaele Mohloboli

The gloves are well and truly off in the All Basotho Convention (ABC)’s fight with its Democratic Congress (DC) coalition partner.

This after the ABC secretary general, Lebohang Hlaele, challenged DC leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu to be “man enough” and confront him over allegations that he is behind the human trafficking allegations against the DC leader and his party.

Mr Hlaele this week told the Lesotho Times that the ABC was not scared of the DC. He said now that the DC had declared war on them, they should “bring it on” as the ABC was “ready and waiting to see what the DC will do”.

He was speaking in the wake of Mr Mokhothu’s weekend claims that the human trafficking allegations against him were made by “Satanists” within the ABC. The DC leader also called on the ABC to rein in what he described as the Hlaele faction within that party.

In the wake of Mr Mokhothu’s weekend attack on the ABC, DC youth league president Moeketsi Shale’s this week told the Lesotho Times that party youths would do everything in their power to defend Mr Mokhothu from malicious attacks by the “Hlaele faction of the ABC”.

Mr Shale said although the DC did not believe Mr Hlaele had the full backing of the ABC’s national executive committee (NEC), it was still incumbent on the latter to publicly distance itself from its secretary general.

The two parties, which only formed a coalition government in May this year, have over the past few weeks been locked in a fierce war of words over allegations that Mr Mokhothu and other senior DC officials were involved in human trafficking activities alongside a Pakistani national, Rana Qamar.

The DC accuses Mr Hlaele of spreading the “false allegations” against Mr Mokhothu and other senior DC officials.

The allegations were first made by an immigration officer, Mapeete Jonathan, in her court application challenging her transfer from Moshoeshoe I Airport to the head office of the immigration department in Maseru.

In her court papers filed last month, Ms Jonathan alleges that she is being transferred as punishment for refusing to allow Mr Qamar to “traffick” two Pakistanis into the country through the airport earlier this year.

She further alleges that she was reliably informed by a fellow immigration officer that Mr Qamar, who is married to a Mosotho woman, is close to Mr Mokhothu and other senior DC officials. Mr Qamar is alleged to have given the DC six campaign vehicles during the last elections in 2017.

Mr Mokhothu vehemently denies the allegations. Ms Jonathan insists the “donation” had given Mr Qamar leverage over the DC leadership to enable the Pakistani to demand her transfer after she refused his two fellow Pakistani travellers entry into the country in March 2020.

Although the allegations were made by Ms Jonathan, DC officials including Mr Mokhothu himself believe they were instigated by Mr Hlaele as part of an elaborate plot to get back at them for rejecting his plan to parachute his preferred candidate, ABC member Nonkululeko Zaly to the post of Home Affairs principal secretary (PS).

Ms Zaly’s appointment, the DC officials allege, would have given Mr Hlaele and the ABC control over the recruitment of civil servants and other staffers to the key ministry. Political parties in successive coalitions have been repeatedly accused of vote-buying by offering jobs to potential voters at their respective ministries.

Ms Zaly was initially appointed to the post by Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro in June this year but the latter had to move her to the Local Government and Chieftaincy portfolio after strong resistance by the DC.

The DC resisted Ms Zaly’s appointment on the grounds that the two parties’ coalition agreement clearly stipulates that each party can only appoint its members as PSs to ministries it controls.

The home affairs minister is the DC deputy leader, Mr Motlalentoa Letsosa. In terms of the two parties’ deal, his PS should come from his own DC party and not from the ABC.

As a result, Mr Letsosa refused to allow Ms Zaly into office when she reported for work on 1 July 2020.

Dr Majoro subsequently revoked Ms Zaly’s appointment on 29 July 2020 and appointed Tumelo Raboletsi as home affairs PS. Dr Majoro subsequently appointed Ms Zaly to her current local government post.

But according to Messrs Mokhothu, Shale and other DC officials, Mr Hlaele is still unhappy with the DC and is therefore behind the smear campaign “to teach the DC a lesson”.

Mr Hlaele hotly denies the allegations. Last week, he addressed a press conference where he said no one was above the law. If there was evidence, Mr Mokhothu must stand trial for human trafficking like anyone else, charged Mr Hlaele.

Although ABC chairperson, Samuel Rapapa, said the press conference had been given the greenlight by the party, the DC leadership insists that Mr Hlaele’s utterances reflect his faction’s position and not that of the entire ABC’s NEC.

Mr Hlaele has lately been accused of dumping the ABC faction led by the party’s deputy leader, Professor Nqosa Mahao. He is said to be hobnobbing with the faction loyal to ABC leader and former premier Thomas Thabane as he allegedly prepares the groundwork for his own ambition to lead the ABC.

It is against this background that Mr Shale this week accused Mr Hlaele of spearheading a smear campaign against Mr Mokhothu and the DC.

“We are aware that our leader and party are under attack and we are going to do everything that it takes to protect what we cherish,” Mr Shale told the Lesotho Times this week.

“The bone of contention is not about trafficking as it is being alleged. It all started with ABC wanting to take over the ministry of home affairs by making their member (Zaly) a principal secretary in that ministry. But we flatly rejected that because we had agreed that the party in charge of a ministry should be allowed to appoint its own member as PS.

“When we thought this had been dealt with, Mr Hlaele then came up with another demand to have a say in how home affairs employees should be recruited and this was also rejected. That is when he took to the media and started attacking us.

“This is how the ABC has always operated but we are not going to allow them to make us lose focus especially now that elections are nearing. I have warned the ABC secretary general to stop besmirching our leader’s name because there is no case at all against our leader.

“It was deemed necessary by the (home affairs) minister that some immigration officers should be transferred to allow the human trafficking issue to be probed. But we are aware that Ntate Hlaele is friends with some top immigration officers hence he is trying to protect them from being transferred.”

He said they were unmoved by Mr Hlaele’s calls for Mr Mokhothu to step down to allow an investigation into his alleged role in human trafficking.

“We are not shaken at all because there is no case against our leader and we are determined to protect him in every way possible.

“Ntate Hlaele should know that he is nothing in this government and he can’t do anything to change it. He has no power at all and can’t chase our leader out of office. He and his cronies like Ntate (Monyane) Moleleki are nothing.

“There is nothing they can do to change or topple this government. We know that Moleleki has joined this war because he is still hoping to get back into government so that he may get benefits for his tenure (which was interrupted when the previous government prematurely collapsed in May this year).

“I doubt if the whole ABC’s NEC feels the same way as Ntate Hlaele about our leader. We are still waiting for them to pronounce themselves on this issue,” Mr Shale said.

On his part, Mr Hlaele said he was “saddened” by the fallout between him and the DC.

“I know that my name is being dragged into this issue just because I frequent the office of the Director of Immigration, Mantšebo Phafane, who happens to be a family friend,” Mr Hlaele told this publication.

He also blasted Mr Mokhothu for not being “man enough” to confront him if he felt that he was leading a smear campaign against him.

“He (Mokhothu) has failed to be man enough to confront me over the allegations. He has instead opted to call me the king of Satanists,” Mr Hlaele said in reference to Mr Mokhothu’s weekend claims that the human trafficking allegations against him were led by “Satanists” within the ABC.

The combative Mr Hlaele said although he did not harbour any personal vendettas against Mr Mokhothu and other DC officials, the DC leader should step aside until his name has been cleared.

He also said since the DC had chosen to fight his party, they should “bring it on” because the ABC was ready and only waiting to see what the DC would do next.

“Now that he (Mokhothu) says his people should protect themselves, we are also ready and are just waiting to see what they are going to do next. We are not scared,” Mr Hlaele said.

Mr Hlaele spoke to the Lesotho Times before yesterday’s meeting between the two parties where a cessation of hostilities was agreed.

The post Bring on the fight, Hlaele tells Mokhothu!!! appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• resolve to hold crunch talks to save coalition from collapse

Pascalinah Kabi

THE ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC) and Democratic Congress (DC) parties yesterday agreed to stop attacking each other in public.

They also agreed on talks aimed at resolving their differences and ensuring that their governing coalition lasts the distance. The talks have been slated for 30 December 2020.

The two parties agreed to a cessation of hostilities at yesterday’s meeting of their national executive committees (NECs) in Maseru.

According to well-placed sources from both parties, the meeting was held at the behest of the ABC. This after the DC had allegedly stopped attending their joint weekly meetings in October 2020 out of anger with the manner it said the ABC was conducting government business without its input.

One of the major bones of contention between the two parties was the judiciary’s decision to prosecute former Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing and current Development Planning Minister Selibe Mochoboroane for treason.  The Southern African Development Community (SADC) had urged Lesotho to suspend the prosecutions until after the completion of multi-sector reforms expected to bring lasting peace and stability to the Kingdom.  The DC does not think the ABC has done enough to try and implement SADC’s recommendations and rein-in the judiciary from proceeding with the prosecutions which threaten to stall the reforms process.

Unless their latest application succeeds, Messrs Metsing and Mochoboroane are now set to be prosecuted alongside former army commander, Lieutenant General (Lt-Gen) Tlali Kamoli,  and three other soldiers, Captain Litekanyo Nyakane, Lance Corporals Motloheloa Ntsane and Leutsoa Motsieloa for treason in connection with the 30 August 2014 attempted coup against the first government of former Prime Minister and current ABC leader, Thomas Thabane.

Mr Metsing, who leads the opposition Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), was deputy prime minister at the time of the attempted coup while Mr Mochoboroane was Communications Minister and LCD secretary general.

Last month, the DC held a press conference where it accused the ABC of instigating the prosecution of Messrs Metsing and Mochoboroane. The prosecution followed a November 2020 Constitutional Court ruling which dismissed Messrs Metsing and Mochoboroane’s bid to stop their prosecution on the grounds that a November 2018 agreement between the government and the opposition brokered by SADC bound Lesotho to stop all trials of politicians until after the implementation of the multi-sector reforms recommended by the regional body.

In its November 2020 judgment, the court ruled that for any international agreement to be binding on Lesotho, it must first be domesticated into local law through an act of parliament.

The ruling cleared the way for Messrs Metsing and Mochoboroane to be tried alongside Lt-Gen Kamoli, Captain Nyakane, Lance Corporals Ntsane and Motsieloa.

The trial was supposed to have commenced last month but it was postponed after a fresh application by Messrs Metsing and Mochoboroane to stop the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from joining them to the case.

The whole issue has driven a wedge between the two key parties who had appeared to enjoy a solid working relationship. The DC is adamant the ABC could have done better to halt the trials and allow the crunch reforms process to be completed.  The faction riven ABC on the other hand appears to hardly achieve consensus on any issue.

The two parties have since been trading blows in public. Just last week, the ABC held a press conference of its own where it said it would not shield DC leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu from prosecution for alleged human trafficking activities. Addressing the media, ABC secretary general Lebohang Hlaele and spokesperson Montoeli Masoetsa said Mr Mokhothu should step down from his post as deputy prime minister if he is charged with human trafficking.

They said stepping down would be an “honourable thing” for Mr Mokhothu to do as that is exactly what their leader, Mr Thabane, did in May 2020 when he stepped down from the post of prime minister after being hauled to court over the 14 June 2017 murder of his ex-wife, Lipolelo Thabane.

The ABC press conference was held in the wake of allegations of Mr Mokhothu and other senior DC officials’ alleged complicity in human trafficking activities alongside a Pakistani, Rana Qamar.

The allegations are contained in a High Court application by an immigration officer, Mapeete Jonathan, challenging her transfer from Moshoeshoe I Airport to the head office of the immigration department in Maseru.

The ABC’s press conference provoked a furious response from the normally soft-spoken Mr Mokhothu who over the weekend called on the ABC to rein in what he described as the Hlaele-led “Satanist” faction of the party which he said was bent on tarnishing his good name and that of the DC. Failure to rein in Mr Hlaele would mean that the ABC was in full agreement with the sentiments of its secretary general and his allies, Mr Mokhothu said.

The escalating tensions between the two parties prompted yesterday’s meeting to stop their differences from spiraling out of control and collapsing the seven-month-old governing coalition which replaced the previous Thabane led four party administration in May this year.

According to sources from both parties, yesterday’s crisis meeting was co-chaired by ABC deputy leader, Professor Nqosa Mahao, and his DC counterpart Motlalentoa Letsosa. Mr Mokhothu did not attend the meeting.

Mr Hlaele, who had this week told the Lesotho Times that his party was more than ready for a fight with the DC, attended the meeting.

However, ABC deputy chairperson, Chalane Phori, who attended last week’s ABC press conference which bashed Mr Mokhothu, was conspicuous by his absence from yesterday’s meeting. Another notable absentee was ABC deputy secretary general Nkaku Kabi.

Authoritative ABC and DC sources who attended the meeting told this publication that the two parties agreed to a cessation of hostilities ahead of talks aimed at saving the coalition from collapse.

“It was agreed that our two parties’ spokespersons (Serialong Qoo for the DC and Masoetsa for the ABC) will release a joint statement on yesterday’s meeting.

“The main question was whether the two parties are still committed to working together given the recent fallout and events that have been unfolding in the media. Both parties indicated that they were committed to this coalition and we agreed that we should therefore cease fire.

“Our two parties have committed to talking to their supporters to cease fire because we cannot have peaceful talks while we are exchanging words,” said a DC source.

Asked if the two parties had apologised to each other for their spats, the source said the meeting did not interrogate the issues which had caused the fallout but it agreed to prioritise the cessation of hostilities to ensure that the 30 December 2020 talks are held under a conducive environment.

“The 30 December meeting will discuss the real issues because our members would have calmed down to allow us to interrogate the issues with sober minds,” said the source.

An ABC source also confirmed that the two parties had tasked Messrs Qoo and Masoetsa to jointly communicate the decisions of yesterday’s meeting.

“Talk to Masoetsa and Qoo, they are responsible for communicating today’s (yesterday’s) decisions with the media. The mood was cordial at today’s talks. Officials from both parties were very calm and respectful to each other.

“We agreed to meet again on 30 December to discuss the thorny issues that have been playing out in the media. It was also agreed that those at the forefront of the fights should immediately stop to give us a chance to iron out the issues. The meeting was co-chaired by Mahao and Letsosa. Mokhothu didn’t attend the meeting and from our side, Phori and Kabi were absent,” the ABC source said.

Mr Letsosa refused to comment on yesterday’s meeting, saying, “the meeting agreed that its decisions must be communicated by the DC and ABC spokespersons.

“Talk to Qoo and Masoetsa,” Mr Letsosa said.

Contacted for comment yesterday evening, Mr Masoetsa sent this publication the following statement:

“The national executive committees of the ABC and DC met today (Wednesday) and the following decisions were made: the two parties and their other partners supporting this coalition government are still committed to this current coalition government, steadily holding hands together to ensure that they stabilise and lead this government to 2022.

“The two committees are cognisant of the fact that there are issues negatively affecting their relationship and the two committees agreed to engage in talks aimed at ironing out these issues and bringing the situation to normalcy. The two committees appeal to all their membership, both in different leadership structures and ordinary members, to ceasefire and stop engaging in war of words on different media platforms to give talks a chance to take place under peaceful and calm environment.

“It is your responsibility, as ABC and DC, to ensure that these talks are fruitful. The next meeting between the two national executive committees will take place on 30 December 2020 to discuss issues and mend fences,” the statement reads.

Mr Qoo could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone rang unanswered.

The post ABC, DC agree to “ceasefire” appeared first on Lesotho Times.

…as patients freely move around the country after being turned back at the borders

Limpho Sello

IN a shocking development which could fuel the spread of the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, hundreds of Covid-19 positive Basotho who have been turned back by South African authorities at the borders are said to have freely moved around the country this week and even mingled with other people.

Covid-19 positive Basotho continue being turned back at South Africa’s ports of entry due to their status but investigations by this publication have shown that on their return to Lesotho, they have been allowed to go free instead of being quarantined due to the government’s failure to provide quarantine facilities for patients.

Some of the patients who were turned back this week have been using public transport to return to their homes thus putting unsuspecting fellow passengers at risk of contracting the deadly virus.

National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC) risk communications manager, Baroane Phenethi, yesterday confirmed the development. He said they were now trying to trace those who were turned back to ensure that they all self-isolated at their homes if the symptoms were not severe enough to warrant hospitalisation.

“We are busy in the villages doing contact tracing of those people who tested positive and used public transport to go to their homes,” Mr Phenethi said.

“South African authorities have also been testing travellers who do not have valid Covid-19 certificates and have been turning back anyone who tests positive for the virus. Unfortunately, some of those who tested positive and were turned back used public transport to go back to their homes thus risking the lives of other passengers.”

Mr Phenethi said they have now started testing travellers on the Lesotho side of the borders to ensure that only those who are Covid-19 negative cross over to the South African side.

Mr Phenethi said they had also started organising transport for those who are turned back at the borders after testing positive for Covid-19. This will ensure that they do not use public transport where they are likely to spread the virus, he said.

The measures could well be a little too late as hundreds of people have already been turned back and they freely moved around mingling with the rest of the population.

The post Covid-19 shocker appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Limpho Sello

FIRST Lady Masekoalane Majoro this week provided meals to more than 1000 Basotho who were travelling to South Africa through the Maseru border post.

In an interview with the Lesotho Times, Ms Majoro said the initiative was funded by her office to assist the travellers who had queued for hours to cross into South Africa.

Thousands of Basotho who are resident in South Africa have been crossing back into the neighbouring country since 1 January 2020. They had come to Lesotho  for the just-ended festive season but many people decided to cut short their stay due to reports that South Africa would introduce stricter measures including a lockdown of the country’s borders to ban international travel as part of efforts to stop the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Therefore, they have been trying to cross back to South Africa quickly in case the border is closed.

However, due to the requirement to present valid Covid-19 clearance certificates, travellers have been spending long hours queuing at the borders.

And Ms Majoro said she understood the frustrations of the travellers after spending long hours queuing.

“We know that waiting for long hours is frustrating and we also know some do not even have money left to spend on food,” Ms Majoro said.

“This is a small gesture from my office to wish them well as they go back to South Africa to work for their families. That is why we are here providing meals for everyone who is passing through the border, so that among their frustrations, hunger is the least.”

Each traveller got a quarter loaf of bread, a slice of polony and a cup of soup.

The post First Lady feeds travellers appeared first on Lesotho Times.

’Marafaele Mohloboli

FIVE bodies of Basotho migrants who were attempting to cross into South Africa through undesignated borders have been recovered from the Caledon River from Christmas Eve until 3 January 2021.

Another body of a herd boy whose age is unknown and that of a nine-year old have also been found in Berea.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) last week also said it had arrested 129 Basotho immigrants for crossing into South Africa illegally without Covid-19 clearance certificates.

The Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) told the Lesotho Times that five of the deceased were swept away by flooded rivers while crossing into South Africa using inflated mattresses and tyre tubes.

The discovery of the bodies come on the back of a surge in the number of Basotho migrants trekking to South Africa after the festive season.

The number of people crossing into South Africa through illegal borders have increased as travellers try to avoid paying money for Covid-19 clearance certificates which are required on entering South Africa.

LMPS spokesperson Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli this week said they were still searching for more bodies.

“So far, seven bodies have been found. Some of the bodies have been identified because they had identification documents on them. Others have just been reported to have drowned and disappeared without a trace,” Snr Supt Mopeli said.

According to a police source, all bodies are said to have been found along the Caledon River.

“On 24 December police got a report that a herd boy had been washed away and to date, his body is still to be found. A nine-year-old boy was also reported to have been washed away by the Mokhethoaneng River in Berea and has still not been found.

“Apart from those, we have received reports of two women and a man who drowned at Maputsoe while attempting to cross into Lesotho and they are still missing. Another body of a man in his 40s was found at Levi’s Nek in Butha-Buthe on 30 December and has been positively identified,” said the police source.

He said another body of a man in his early 30s was found at Hleoheng in Leribe on 29 December while another body of a man his 40s was found in the same area on 30 December.

Meanwhile, illegal crossings have led to the arrest of 129 Basotho on 31 December.

SAPS Free State provincial spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele on Monday said: “One hundred and twenty-nine suspects were expected to appear before the Fouriesburg Magistrate Court charged with contravening the Disaster Management Act Level 3 of 2020 (failure to confine to the residence) and contravention of the Illegal Immigration Act”.

“All 129 suspects are Lesotho nationals and were arrested on Thursday 31 December 2020 at 2am after they illegally crossed into South Africa via the Caledonspoort border without proper documents and without adhering to Covid-19 Disaster Management Act regulations,” Brigadier Makhele said.

The post Five Basotho drown while illegally crossing into SA appeared first on Lesotho Times.

…as ABC MPs reject Thabane’s call to oust him

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE main ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC)’s parliamentary caucus, has rejected party leader and former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s call for ABC legislators to recall Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro.

Instead, the legislators this week expressed their support for Dr Majoro at a press conference at the ‘Manthabiseng Convention Centre in Maseru.

Although 25 out of the party’s 50 legislators turned up for the Tuesday press briefing, they claimed that they had the support of 10 others who were not at the venue. If this is true, this means that 35 ABC MPs still support Dr Majoro’s government.

Taken together with the Democratic Congress (DC)’s 25 MPs and the smaller parties’ combined 16 seats,  it all means the governing coalition still commands the support of  at least 76 MPs . This means that Dr Majoro has got the numbers to survive any attempt to oust him. Even without the 10 ABC MPs, who did not attend the presser, the government still has 66 MPs-  a figure above the 61 seat threshold required to be government.

Dr Majoro, the ABC Thetsane legislator and former finance minister, replaced Mr Thabane as prime minister on 20 May 2020. This after the ABC MPs and the party’s national executive committee (NEC) had resolved that Mr Thabane should step down as they felt he could not continue as premier after being named as a suspect in the 14 June 2017 murder of his ex-wife, Lipolelo.  

The ABC’s NEC had already agreed to form a new coalition government with the DC and other smaller parties such as the Basotho National Party, Movement for Economic Change, Popular Front for Democracy and Reformed Congress of Lesotho.

Despite Dr Majoro’s advent with popular support from the ABC MPs, Mr Thabane and his allies have been working with the opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD) to unseat him, accusing them of not  serving their interests. Among other things, Dr Majoro has been accused of failing to appoint Mr Thabane’s allies to his cabinet and to other key government posts.

The attempts to unseat him have not yielded any results hitherto as Dr Majoro still appears to retain  the support of the majority of the ABC’s NEC members, MPs as well as his coalition partners.

This has however, not stopped Mr Thabane and his loyalists from lobbying for the premier’s ouster.

According to ABC spokesperson, Montoeli Masoetsa, and other NEC members who spoke on condition of anonymity, Mr Thabane pleaded with NEC to recall Dr Majoro during an NEC meeting in Maseru on 29 December 2020.

“It is true that the leader raised such an issue (of Dr Majoro’s recall) but the matter was never discussed and no date was set as to when it will be deliberated,” Mr Masoetsa told the Lesotho Times yesterday.

Another NEC member said, “we had a meeting and Ntate Thabane talked tough, saying that ABC members were frequenting his home, complaining that they were being sidelined by the government”.

“He was unhappy that ABC members were not being hired whenever there were vacancies or awarded tenders by this government. He said those who approached him indicated that their loyalty to the ABC was not being rewarded and that only a certain clique within the party was being handsomely rewarded,” the NEC member said.

It is against this background that the 25 ABC MPs addressed the Tuesday press conference and expressed confidence in Dr Majoro’s government.

Reading a statement, the caucus’s secretary, Tlokotsi Manyoko – an ABC MP for Hololo constituency – said they still supported Dr Majoro as prime minister.

“During the ABC national executive committee meeting of 29 December 2020, an issue was tabled that the head of government be removed immediately.

“As the people’s representatives in parliament, we would like to clarify our stance and state that the removal of the head of government means the collapse of government as stated in the constitution and the Westminster parliamentary system.

“As such, we as the people’s representatives, hereby state that we support the decision of the NEC which rejected the collapse of the current government. It is not in the interests of the nation to keep on changing governments. We strongly support the current government. We also assure Basotho that our numbers in parliament, together with those of our coalition partners are stable,” Mr Manyoko said.

The ABC’s Mokhotlong legislator, Tefo Mapesela, weighed in, saying they had rejected Mr Thabane’s call.

“We heard that the issue of removing the prime minister was raised by our leader, Ntate Thabane. We, as the ABC caucus, reject that and firmly state that it will not happen. The government can only be changed by us MPs,” Mr Mapesela said.

His sentiments were echoed by fellow legislator, Motlohi Maliehe, (Butha-Buthe constituency) who said only MPs had the power to change governments.

“The caucus has powers to make final decisions regarding the interests of the ABC in parliament. The NEC cannot form or bring down a government,” Mr Maliehe said.

However, Chalane Phori- a self-proclaimed Thabane loyalist who is also MP for Qoaling- yesterday rubbished the Tuesday press briefing as an “informal meeting” which did not reflect the party position.

“What happened is that ABC MPs met informally to pronounce their stance but their decisions are not those of the ABC. They cannot meet informally and decide anything,” Mr Phori said.

He also reiterated his support for Mr Thabane, saying, “I have always stated that I stand with Ntate Thabane as the party leader as per the constitution of the ABC”.

The post Thumbs up for Majoro appeared first on Lesotho Times.

’Marafaele Mohloboli

FORMER National Security Services (NSS) director general, Pheello Ralenkoane, has been re-appointed to the post.

His latest appointment, with effect from 5 January 2021, is for another three years. It brings to an end the uncertainty within the spy agency which had operated without a substantive boss since the expiry of Mr Ralenkoane’s contract in July 2020.

Although Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro’s press attaché, Mosito Moqhekoana, and the Government Secretary, Lerotholi Pheko, were not reachable for comment, Mr Ralenkoane himself confirmed that his contract had been renewed.

“I can confirm that I am back in office with effect from today (Tuesday),” Mr Ralenkoane said in a brief interview with the Lesotho Times.

He refused to comment on allegations by some government sources that the renewal of his contract had taken such a long time because some of the parties in the governing coalition were opposed to his continued stay in office.

“The office of director general of the NSS is crucial in maintaining national security and should not have taken this long to fill the vacancy. The lengthy delay in appointing a substantive head after the expiry of Ntate Ralenkoane’s contract last July was caused by disagreements among the governing parties who were plotting to have their own preferred candidates appointed,” said a highly placed official, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

“It is a well-known fact that Ntate Ralenkoane is a member of the Basotho National Party (BNP) which is one of the small parties in the coalition led by the All Basotho Convention (ABC) and the Democratic Congress (DC). The BNP fought hard to ensure that Ntate Ralenkoane was reappointed and in the end, they prevailed because the other parties could not agree on a suitable replacement.”.

Mr Ralenkoane’s reappointment, has however, not been well-received by the opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD) and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) parties.

LCD spokesperson, Apesi Ratšele, this week said his party had hoped the post would be given to someone else because Mr Ralenkoane was a BNP politician and therefore unfit to head a security institution.

“We have always complained about Mr Ralenkoane being the director general of the NSS. His appointment has always been wrong because our security institutions need to be independent of the influence of politicians like him,” Mr Ratšele said in an interview.

His sentiments were echoed by AD spokesperson, Thuso Litjobo, who added that the delay in filling the position was a clear sign that “this government is not confident enough to make sound decisions”.

Over the course of his previous tenure, Mr Ralenkoane battled allegations of partisanship and bias after he presided over the January 2018 dismissal of 77 NSS officers who were hired during the time of the seven parties’ coalition led by DC leader Pakalitha Mosisili from 2015 to 2017.

The officers were fired on the grounds that they had been unprocedurally recruited but Mr Ralenkoane’s detractors say they were dismissed because they were not aligned to the then Thomas Thabane-led four party coalition which lasted from June 2017 to May 2020. The fired officers later challenged their dismissal and the matter is pending in the High Court.

In an interview with this publication shortly before the expiry of his previous contract last year, Mr Ralenkoane said although he had actively participated in BNP politics, he no longer dabbled in politics after his July 2017 appointment as NSS boss by then Prime Minister Thabane.

He said he was now “a public servant entrusted with the state security and for me to be effective, I definitely have to be apolitical”.

“It follows therefore that my conduct and actions upon taking the oath of office, shall have to be apolitical.

“The same goes for those officers who were recruited. Although they have to be vetted, they are usually taken in despite their political affiliation and are nurtured and trained through the NSS curriculum into what the organisation wants them to be and to serve the national interests of our Kingdom without any form of discrimination.

“If at all we were to hire people who had nothing to do with politics, then who would we hire because almost everyone has their political affiliation? There would definitely be no one to hire.

“What matters is what one does once they are in public office and I am smart enough to know that the minute I hold a public office that requires discipline, I leave the party line behind and serve this country as entrusted by His Majesty the King,” Mr Ralenkoane said.

The post Ralenkoane bounces back as NSS boss appeared first on Lesotho Times.

’Marafaele Mohloboli

RETHABILE Mokete, the well-known famo musician and a key suspect in the 14 June 2017 murder of Lipolelo Thabane, is dead.

He died on Tuesday from suspected Covid 19 after a short illness at the Netcare Hospital in Bloemfontein.

Popularly known as Khosi Mosotho Chakela, Mr Mokete had become a fugitive from justice after he fled the country as the police sought him over the murder of Lipolelo, the ex-wife of former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane. Mr Thabane is also a suspect in the murder.

Mr Mokete’s right-hand man, Nteei Tšehlana, confirmed his death in an interview with the Lesotho Times yesterday. He said Mr Mokete and his three associates had been admitted to hospital on 28 December 2020 after displaying symptoms of Covid-19.

“They were all taken to hospital and upon arrival Khosi Chakela’s blood pressure was found to be very high as he had hypertension.

“He died on 5 January 2021. Two of his associates have since been discharged and one remains in hospital but in a stable condition.

“We are still waiting for his post mortem results so that we can know for sure whether he died of Covid-19 or hypertension,” Mr Tšehlana said.

He said Mr Mokete and others could have contracted the virus during the numerous trips they had been undertaking between Bloemfontein and Gauteng to campaign for Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu’s Democratic Congress (DC) ahead of the 2022 general elections.

Mr Mokete was a founder member of the Thabane-led All Basotho Convention (ABC) in 2006.

He dumped the party for the DC after falling out with Mr Thabane and other senior ABC officials who he accused of leaving him out in the cold and failing to handsomely reward him for the “sacrifices” he had made for the ABC.

In demanding his ‘pound of flesh’, Mr Mokete said his Terene gang of famo followers ought to have been rewarded for having helped the ABC to win the 3 June 2017 elections.

He had earlier threatened to dish out dirty secrets on former First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane and former Police and Public Security Minister ’Mampho Mokhele.

His bitterness with the ABC led him to join the DC last year and he had pledged to work hard to ensure it won next year’s elections.

Mr Mokete rose to fame with his debut 1999 album Manka le Phallang.

In 2006, he scooped the South African Traditional Music Award (SATMA) for the best musician in the Famo music category and from that point on he released hit after hit including songs such as Ho etsa hampe le hantle ho tšoana feela and Sutu ea Chakela.

Despite being an award-winning famo musician, his fame as a singer had been overshadowed by his involvement in the deadly turf wars with rival famo gangs.

Last year he became a wanted man after being named as one of the key suspects in the June 2017 murder of Mr Thabane’s ex-wife, Lipolelo.

He was named alongside fellow famo musicians Seabata Sello, Macheli Koeshe, Molefi Matima and Sarele Sello.  Sarele has since turned into a state witness.

According to court papers filed in the High Court last year by Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP) Paseka Mokete, Mr Mokete is one of the hitmen who were allegedly hired by Mr Thabane and his current wife, ‘Maesaiah Thabane, to kill Lipolelo.

The Thabane couple allegedly promised to pay Lipolelo’s killers a staggering M3 million to get the job done, DCP Mokete claimed in his court papers.

They had allegedly only paid the killers M400 000 when the allegations against them blew up earlier in 2020.

Ms Thabane has already been charged with the Lipolelo murder and the attempted murder of Lipolelo’s friend, Thato Sibolla.

Ms Thabane is out on bail and it is not clear when, if at all the trial will proceed.

Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli had said they would also arrest and charge Mr Thabane with Lipolelo’s murder but he remains free to this day amid claims by some ABC and government sources that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Hlalefang Motinyane’s apparent inertia on the matter is a result of political pressure to spare the former premier in light of threats by his supporters to collapse the Moeketsi Majoro led coalition if Mr Thabane is charged.  Mr Thabane was originally taken to court in February 2020 but he immediately challenged the decision to charge him, saying he could not be charged criminally as long as he remained sitting premier.  The matter was referred to the Constitutional Court. That argument no longer holds water as he is no longer prime minister after his May 2020 ouster. But the DPP has not taken any action against him ever since amid the political pressure suggestions.

The post Key Lipolelo murder suspect Chakela dies appeared first on Lesotho Times.

 …as more institutions continue to close down due to rising Covid-19 infections

Limpho Sello

AT least 20 health workers including nurses and support staff at various Christian Health Association of Lesotho (CHAL) run health centres are currently self-isolating at their homes after testing positive for Covid-19.

CHAL acting director, Libete Semapane, said the Covid-19 positive staffers are employed at four of their health facilities namely Tebellong Hospital in Qacha’s Nek, Emmaus Health Centre and Motsekuoa Health Centre (all in Mafeteng) as well as Scott Hospital in Morija.

Mr Semapane said the staffers tested positive during the just-ended festive season and all of them were currently self-isolating at their homes.

He said due to the staffers’ absence from work, the health facilities were short-staffed and they were not operating at full capacity.

“The infected staffers were sent home to self-isolate. We also traced those who had come into direct contact with them and these are also isolating while awaiting their Covid-19 test results which will tell whether or not they are infected,” Mr Semapane said in an interview this week.

Meanwhile a number of institutions have closed down due to soaring Covid-19 infections and deaths in the country.

The last update provided by the National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC) on 4 January 2021 put the number of Covid-19 infections in Lesotho to date at 3914 and the number of deaths at 65.

This represents a huge increase from the 3206 infections recorded three days earlier on 1 January 2021.

Some of the institutions that have suspended operations include the Lerotholi Polytechnic whose bursar, Leonard Masarurwa, died on Monday.

In statement this week, the polytechnic’s rector, Professor Spirit Tlal, said Mr Masarurwa “passed away after a short illness on 4 January 2021 while awaiting his Covid-19 test results”.

Prof Tlali said the polytechnic had been closed and would re-open tomorrow after the entire campus had been disinfected in accordance with public health guidelines issued by the health ministry and NACOSEC as part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

Other institutions that have suspended operations are Standard Lesotho Bank’s Mafeteng Branch, building materials supplier Cashbuild in Mafeteng as well as mobile communications giant Vodacom Lesotho’s outlets at Pioneer and Maseru Malls.

The post 20 CHAL staffers struck down by Covid-19 appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE director general of the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO), Advocate Mahlomola Manyokole, has launched a fresh High Court bid to stop Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro from firing him.

Adv Manyokole wants the High Court to interdict Law and Justice Minister Professor Nqosa Mahao from advising Dr Majoro to suspend him as the DCEO boss while a three-member tribunal investigates his fitness to remain in office.

He also wants the court to set aside the tribunal set up by Dr Majoro to inquire into his fitness to remain in office.

He filed his application last Friday and the matter will be heard today by Justice Moroke Mokhesi.

Justice Mokhesi is expected to hear arguments from Adv Manyokole’s Lawyer, Adv Tekane Maqakachane, and the respondents’ lawyers.

Dr Majoro, Prof Mahao, Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane, Attorney General Haae Phoofolo, the tribunal on the removal of director general of the DCEO, Justice Teboho Moiloa, Justice Semapo Peete and Justice Polo Banyane are first to eighth respondents respectively in the application.

Attorney Monaheng Rasekoai is representing Dr Majoro and Prof Mahao, Attorney Kuili Ndebele is representing Justice Sakoane and Adv Phoofolo while Adv Christopher Lephuthing is representing the tribunal.

The moves to get rid of Adv Manyokole started on 10 December 2020 when Prof Mahao issued him with the first letter demanding that he “show cause” why he should not be suspended pending investigations into his fitness to remain in office.

Adv Manyokole approached the High Court the following day and before the matter could be heard, Prof Mahao withdrew the “show cause” letter. The two parties said they had reached an out of court settlement to be presented before Justice Molefi Makara, who was initially expected to preside over their dispute, for endorsement as an order of court.

But this did not happen for reasons that have still not been made public. In place of the out of court settlement, Dr Majoro on 24 December 2020 set up the three-member tribunal headed by retired Judge Moiloa to investigate Adv Manyokole’s fitness to remain in office. Fellow retired Judge Peete and Justice Banyane are the other members of the tribunal.

They were asked to begin their task on 24 December 2020 in terms of the gazetted legal notice No 139 of 2020.

Five days later, Prof Mahao slapped Adv Manyokole with another letter demanding that he “show cause” why he should not be suspended pending the investigations into his fitness to hold office.

Adv Manyokole immediately rushed back to the High Court on 1 January 2021. The parties agreed before Justice Thamsanqa Nomngcongo not to take any further action against each other to allow Adv Manyokole’s application to be finalised by the court.

Both sides again appeared in court on Monday before Justice Mokhesi who resolved to hear the matter today.

In terms of the reliefs, Adv Manyokole wants “the decision of Dr Majoro to appoint a tribunal on the removal of the director general of the DCEO in terms of Legal Notice No.139 of 2020 to be reviewed, corrected and set aside”.

He wants the legal notice “appointing the tribunal on the removal of the director general of the DCEO be declared illegal, irregular, null and void and of no force or effect in law”.

“The decision of the Chief Justice to select Justice Teboho Moiloa as a member and chairperson of the tribunal … be reviewed, corrected and set aside.

“It be declared by this court that the establishment of the tribunal by the first respondent (Dr Majoro), the show cause letter by the second respondent (Mahao) dated 29 December 2020 and any suspension of the applicant (Manyokole) from the exercise of the functions of the office of the director general of the DCEO constitute an unlawful threat and violation of the independence and autonomy of the DCEO enshrined by the Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offences Act.

“The second respondent’s decision to call upon the first applicant (Manyokole) to show cause why the second respondent (Mahao) may not advise or recommend to the first respondent (Majoro) to suspend the applicant from the exercise of the functions of the office of the director general of the DCEO pursuant to the letter dated 29 December 2020 be reviewed, corrected and set aside. The second respondent’s letter calling upon the applicant to show cause why … be set aside as illegal and of no force or effect in law.

“In the event that the first respondent nonetheless proceeds to suspend the applicant pursuant to the advice of the second respondent based on the letter dated 29 December 2020 notwithstanding service and institution of these present proceedings, such decision be reviewed, corrected and set aside,” Adv Manyokole prays.

In his application, Adv Manyokole details corruption allegations he says he is investigating against Dr Majoro, Prof Mahao and Justice Moiloa himself.  (see lead story on Page 2) 

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