Pascalinah Kabi

FORMER Liqhobong Mine chief executive officer (CEO) Stuart Michael Brown on Tuesday appeared before the Maseru Magistrates’ Court to face charges of fraud in relation to the awarding of a mining tender to a company that was allegedly not registered in Lesotho.

Mr Brown, who stepped down from the post of CEO and director at Liqhobong Mine on 30 June this year, was hauled to the courts by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) this week. He was charged along with Basil Read Mining and he was released on M50 000 bail.

The DCEO accuses Mr Brown of misrepresenting to the Liqhobong Mine board that Basil Read Mining was registered in Lesotho, resulting in the latter being awarded a tender to carry out open pit mining operations in Lesotho.

The DCEO contends that Mr Brown was fully aware that Basil Read Mining was not registered in Lesotho and the misrepresentation by Mr Brown resulted in the company being awarded the tender on 28 June 2017.

The fraudulent acts were allegedly committed by Mr Brown in concert with Basil Read Mining after Liqhobong Mine published a notice inviting expressions of interests to tender for a contract to carry out open pit mining operations for Liqhobong Mine in October 2015.

The DCEO contends that at the time the contract was awarded to Basil Read Mining, the company had been deregistered and removed from the company register on or about 23 December 2014 and was therefore no longer legally in existence.

Despite this Mr Brown allegedly connived with Basil read Mining to mislead the Liqhobong Mine Board, thereby ensuring that Basil Read was awarded the contract on 28 June 2017, approximately six months before the company was legally registered in Lesotho.

“On 3 March 2017, accused 1 (Mr Brown), purporting to be Basil Read Mining, submitted in writing its expression of interest in response to the aforesaid notice and did so in the knowledge that Basil Read Mining no longer existed.

“In doing so accused 1 misrepresented to LMDC (Liqhobong) that B&E (Basil Read Mining) was a company domiciled and incorporated in terms of the laws of Lesotho and had company registration number 83/18.

“Acting upon such representation and on 28 June 2017 the board awarded the contract to B&E. On 1 November 2017 accused 2 signed a contract with BRL on behalf of LMDC, thereby holding out to LMDC and the Minister that this was the contract which had been awarded on 28 June 2017, whereas both accused and BRL well knew that the contract had been awarded to a non-existing entity and that the BRL only came into existence on 12 October 2017 which was after the award of the contract,” part of the court papers state.

Based on that evidence, the DCEO accuses Mr Brown and Basil Read Mining of committing the crime of fraud.

“On or about 28 June 2017 and in the district of Maseru, the two accused acting in common purpose with each other did unlawfully misrepresent with the intent to defraud members of the Board of LMDC, LMDC and the Minister, and to their prejudice, that B&E was an existing and registered company in Lesotho.

“They did thereby cause LMDC to award the contract to B&E, whereas in truth and in fact the accused well knew that B&E was no longer registered or in existence, and that accused 1 and or B&E were not eligible to be awarded the contract, and did thus commit the crime of fraud.”

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Pascalinah Kabi

THE much-anticipated case between suspended Chief Justice Nthomeng Majara and Prime Minister Thomas Thabane failed to kick off yesterday due to a last-minute cancellation of the engagement of South African judges to hear the case.

Justice Majara filed the court application in May this year, seeking to interdict Dr Thabane from recommending her suspension and the appointment of a tribunal to try on various charges of misconduct. It was then that the three South African judges were allocated to hear the case which had been set for 26 September (yesterday).

However, the case did not proceed yesterday after the Acting Chief Justice ‘Maseforo Mahase allegedly ordered that the three judges should not be engaged to preside over the case.

This is according to an email which Advocate Qhalehang Letsika sent to the Acting High Court Registrar, Pontso Phafoli last week, expressing his dismay at the last-minute cancellation of engagement of the three judges.

“Dear Adv Phafoli, I acknowledge receipt of your email correspondence and note with concern the contents,” Adv Letsika said in the email.

“We know that in terms of the current working system once a matter has been allocated judges, the Chief Justice cannot just re-allocate the matter without valid reasons. Your correspondence further mentions that the matter will be heard once the new panel is established.

“I take it that you mean a new panel will be constituted for this matter. Kindly therefore let us know why the existing panel (of judges) has had to be changed. Kindly let us know why the honourable Acting Chief Justice felt that the matter had to be re-allocated.

“In the same way kindly let us know if you impressed upon the honourable Acting Chief Justice that government as early as June 2018 wanted the mater to be concluded by the same June 2018 because all the sides were agreed that the matter had to be dealt with on urgent basis.”

Adv Letsika insisted that this was one matter that ought to be dealt with urgently in the interests of all the parties involved. He further requested to have a meeting with Justice Mahase to discuss the matter, insisting that “we be given reasons for the change of the panel of judges and the change to dates of hearing”.

Justice Mahase however, hit back by saying it was the prerogative of the Chief Justice to administer and allocate business of the court to resident or foreign judges and therefore no one could dictate to her how the matter should be handled.

Justice Mahase’s response is contained in a letter signed by Ms Phafoli.

“The re-allocation of this matter is brought about by the non-availability of one of the panelists, namely Honourable Justice Rampai. He therefore has to be replaced by Honourable Justice van Zyl. Further, it must be re-emphasised that it remains the legal prerogative of the Chief Justice to re-constitute the panelists as long as the case is not a part-heard to suit prevailing circumstances and there is ample precedence in this regard.

“The scheduled date of the 26^th instant, has been unilaterally set by the honourable judges themselves… Furthermore, the (26 September) date had not been agreed to by all parties. It was yet to be confirmed by the respondents and communicated back to the panel for their confirmation.

“Finally, the honourable Chief Justice directs me to inform you that her office regrets that it sees no valid reason for yourselves to seek a meeting with the honourable Acting Chief Justice alone, whilst in actual fact you should have sought the attendance and concurrence of the other side (the respondents) in the matter, for obvious reasons,” reads the letter signed by Ms Phafoli.

She emphasised that it was “impractical” and “not prudent” for the court application to proceed yesterday.

Despite her spirited efforts, Justice Majara was recently suspended from office by His Majesty King Letsie III, on the advice of Dr Thabane. She was suspended from office with effect from 11 September 2018.

The suspension paves way for a three-member tribunal to try her over a litany of misconduct charges including her alleged failure to ensure the timeous delivery of justice.

King Letsie III, acting on the advice of Dr Thabane, has since appointed High Court judge, Justice ‘Maseforo Mahase, as the acting Chief Justice. King Letsie III has also appointed three experienced judges from Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe to the tribunal to hear the misconduct charges against Justice Majara.

The three members of the tribunal are Ugandan judge Frederick Egonda-Ntende (who was appointed Seychelles Supreme Court Chief Justice in 2009), Tanzanian judge Augustino S. L. Ramadhoni (who was elected to the African Court on Human and People’s Rights in 2010) and Zimbabwe’s former Minister of Justice and High Court Judge Simbi Mubako.

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Mohalenyane Phakela

THE uncertainty surrounding the engagement of foreign judges to preside over the criminal trials of past and serving members of the security agencies as well as other politically sensitive cases has caused the postponement of the Police Constable (PC) Mokalekale Khetheng murder trial.

The government has previously said that the foreign judges will be in Lesotho by September in time to hear cases including those of murder-accused former army commander, Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli; Lesotho Congress for Democracy’s (LCD) Deputy Leader, Tšeliso Mokhosi and the former Police Commissioner, Molahlehi Letsoepa.

But four weeks into September, there is still no sign of the foreign judges and the government is uncertain as to when they will finally arrive.

The delay in the arrival of the judges has already caused the postponement of the murder trial of Mr Mokhosi, Mr Letsoepa and four senior police officers which had been scheduled for 4 September this year.

Messrs Mokhosi, Letsoepa and the four police officers stand accused of murdering Police Constable (PC) Mokalekale Khetheng two years ago.

The other officers are Senior Superintendent Thabo Tšukulu, Superintendent Mothibeli Mofolo, Inspector Mabitle Matona and Police Constable Haleokoe Taasoane who are all currently on suspension from the police service. While Mr Mokhosi is out on bail and Mr Letsoepa fled the country last year, the four other police officers are still detained at the Maseru Maximum Security Prison.

In June this year, High Court judge Justice Thamsanqa Nomngcongo set 4 to 7 September 2018 as the trial dates for the murder case.

This was after the defence lawyers and the prosecution had submitted that they had been informed by the office of the Registrar and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that foreign judges would be available from September to hear this and other cases involving members of the security agencies.

But the trial failed to kick-off on Tuesday 4 September as there were still no foreign judges who had been assigned to the case. The case was subsequently postponed to Tuesday 25 September.

But on Tuesday, Justice Nomngcongo once again postponed the case, this time to 6 November 2018, when it is thought the foreign judges would have arrived to preside over the case.

Justice Nomngcongo postponed the case despite representations by the prosecution and the defence lawyers that they were ready for the trial.

“During the last session (on 4 September) I promised that the case will continue today and I can say we are ready and the witnesses are present,” said the prosecutor, Counsel Advocate ‘Naki Nku.

The defence lawyers, Advocate Karabo Mohau (KC) and Attorney Qhalehang Letsika also said they were ready for the trial to start.

“We are ready to proceed but the matter keeps being postponed. However, there is nothing we can do about it. May it happen as the court pleases,” Attorney Letsika said.

He said this after Justice Nomngcongo had announced the postponement on the grounds that he was told by Chief Justice Nthomeng Majara that the case would be heard by a foreign judge.

“I have been told by the Chief Justice that this case is among those which will be heard by foreign judges. I was also told that preparations for them to be in the country are at an advanced stage so I am hopeful that on the remanded date of 6 November we will know who will be presiding over this case,” Justice Nomngcongo said on Tuesday.

In a recent interview with this publication, the Acting Registrar of the High Court, Pontšo Phafoli, said it was premature to give details as the process to bring in the foreign judges was still in its early stages.

“We are still in the negotiation stage with the countries which will be assisting Lesotho with the judges and therefore we cannot give any dates as to when they (judges) are expected to arrive in the country,” Ms Phafoli said a fortnight ago.

Although she would not reveal any names citing the need for confidentiality, government sources have said that South Africa is one of the countries that will provide judges once an agreement has been reached.

It also remains to be seen if the murder and attempted murder trials of Lt-Gen Kamoli will begin as expected on 9 October this year.

In the first case which has been set for 9 to 12 October, Lt-Gen Tlali stands accused of murder in connection with the killing of Police Sub-Inspector Mokheseng Ramahloko at the Police Headquarters in Maseru during the attempted coup of 30 August 2014.

Lt-Gen Kamoli is charged alongside Captain Litekanyo Nyakane, Lance Corporal Motloheloa Ntsane and Lance Corporal Leutsoa Motsieloa.

In the second case, the former army chief is facing 14 counts of attempted murder in connection with the 27 January 2014 simultaneous bombings of the Moshoeshoe II homes of First Lady Maesaiah Thabane and the Ha Abia residence of former police commissioner, Khothatso Tšooana.

The attempted murder case has been set for 16 to 19 October 2018.

In this case the former Lt-Gen Kamoli is charged alongside Major Pitso Ramoepane, Captain Litekanyo Nyakane, Sergeant Heqoa Malefane and Corporal Mohlalefi Seitlheko.

The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Mokhele Moletsane, recently told the Lesotho Times that the decision to engage foreign judges was taken to protect local judges from possible victimisation and backlash that could arise from trying the “politically sensitive cases”.

Mr Moletsane said while the local judges were competent enough to try the cases, the government and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) still felt it necessary to engage foreign judges because the cases in question were politically sensitive. He further said that the verdicts of the foreign judges were less likely to be viewed as biased.

“It has never been about the incompetency of local judges as the government believes they are capable enough to preside over the cases.

“However, the government and SADC agreed that due to the nature of the cases which are said to be politically sensitive, it would be best to source foreign judges because local judges are at risk of being victimised for the verdicts they would give for the cases,” Mr Moletsane said.

The post Murder trial postponed over foreign judges appeared first on Lesotho Times.

’Marafaele Mohloboli

THE Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) is investigating possible corruption and the flouting of tender procedures in the multi-million maloti fertiliser supply tender by the Ministry of Agriculture.

DCEO spokesperson ’Matlhokomelo Senoko recently told the Lesotho Times that they were investigating the award of the tender to South African company Omnia who bid M39, 8 million to supply the fertiliser to the government.

The government is in the process of assisting farmers to prepare for the 2018/19 summer cropping season.

“The matter has been reported to us and we are looking into whether or not there was any corruption around the awarding of such a contract,” Ms Senoko told this publication.

The alleged corruption was reported to the DCEO by fellow South African companies, Kynoch and Dfert, who claim that Omnia was given the tender despite failing to meet the initial tendering requirements.

Besides Kynoch and Dfert, other companies that bid for the open tender were M&S Logistics, Dfert, Hippo Transport Pty (Ltd) and VS Agric (Cubana Shells).

The aggrieved companies say that the Ministry of Agriculture went on to choose Omnia in a selective tendering process despite the fact that Omnia had been disqualified from the initial tender on the basis of its late submission of tender documents.

The companies further allege that the ministry also flouted tender regulations by awarding Omnia the tender before the mandatory “cooling off period” of 10 working days in which companies that would have lost the tender are allowed to submit written objections before the tender is finally awarded.

“In the first instance when the initial open tender was called, Omnia was disqualified because it submitted its papers very late into the process when the tender boxes were being opened,” said Buti Nkhabutlane, a representative of Kynoch.

The initial tender opened on 3 July this year and when it failed to produce a preferred bidder, the Agriculture ministry opted for selective tendering where they only invited Omnia, Dfert and Kynoch.

A copy of the Ministry of Agriculture’s invitation letter to Omnia, seen by the Lesotho Times, informs the company that “you are kindly invited to submit a tender for the supply of fertiliser for the financial year 2018/19 to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food security (Department of Crops Services)”.

The letter, which is titled ‘Selective tendering for supply of fertiliser to the Department of Crops Services’, also states that the winning bidder will supply 101990 bags (50 kilogrammes each of the 621 variety for the maize crop) of NPK+0, 5 Zn fertiliser, 15 000 bags (50 kilogrammes each of the 232 variety for beans) of NPK+0, 5 Zn fertiliser and 3000 bags (50 kg each) of top dressing fertiliser.

“The closing date of the submission of bids shall be on Tuesday 31 July 2018 at 14:00 hours while the opening will be on the same day at 14:00 hours. Tenders shall be opened by the tender panel in the presence of bidders,” the letter further states.

The two companies’ representatives said they were surprised that Omnia which had been disqualified from the initial tender was suddenly roped into the selective tender and chosen over them. The companies say they were not even allowed to submit their written objections to the awarding of the tender as the law stipulates.

“We were never called for a debriefing session (to explain why we lost out) and we were not given the opportunity to submit our written objections to the choice of Omnia. Instead, we were served with letters dated 4 September notifying us that we had not been successful, said the Dfert representative, Moeketsi Motaung.

Mr Nkhabutlane concurred with him, saying, “it is surprising that before we (Kynoch) could even write any letters of complaint the tender was awarded to Omnia and there was not even a debriefing session to tell us why we lost out”.

Both companies said they were also surprised that Omnia was given the tender despite submitting the most expensive bid of M39, 8 million (compared to Kynoch’s M30 million and Dfert’s M 36 million bids.

“While we admit that the government has no obligation to take the lowest bidder, we expected transparency and we were surprised that this time unlike in the past, the ministry no longer speaks about ‘value for money’. Omnia’s was the highest bid at M39 million,” said Mr Nkhabutlane, adding they had since reported the issue to the DCEO.

However, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Malefetsane Nchaka, maintained that they held a meeting to brief the losing companies “and some of them did not attend”.

Mr Nchaka further said the companies failed to meet the requirements in the selective tender and this forced them to apply for a waiver that allowed them to pick Omnia. He said they had to do this because the cropping season was fast approaching and they were under pressure to secure a supplier for the fertiliser.

He said they settled on Omnia because in addition to suppliers, they were also looking for manufacturers of fertilisers.

“All the companies failed to meet all the requirements in the selective tendering. Others submitted expired documents and others failed to demonstrate they had they had the financial resources.

“Given that both (open and selective tendering) processes had failed we asked the government for a waiver as the farming season is nearing and we can’t afford to waste any more time as fertiliser is needed.

“We applied for a waiver given that we were under pressure and I personally approached the DCEO to seek legal advice as time was already not on our side,” Mr Nchaka said.

The post DCEO investigates corruption in fertiliser tender appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Pascalinah Kabi

TEMPERS flared when lawyers representing suspended Chief Justice Nthomeng Majara and those representing the government met behind closed doors on Monday in the Acting Chief Justice Maseforo Mahase’s chambers, the Lesotho Times has learnt.

Justice Majara recently petitioned the High Court to order King Letsie III to revoke her recent suspension which is effective from 11 September this year.

The suspension paves way for a three-member tribunal to try Justice Majara over a litany of misconduct charges including her alleged failure to ensure the timeous delivery of justice.

Justice Majara also wants the court to set aside the subsequent appointment of Justice ‘Maseforo Mahase as the Acting Chief Justice.

Highly placed sources told this publication that on Monday tensions arose after Justice Majara’s legal team sought to have Acting Chief Justice Mahase delegate her powers to allocate judges to the case in which Justice Majara is challenging the government’s decision to suspend her from office.

Advocate Motia Tele appeared on behalf of Justice Majara while Advocate Koili Ndebele appeared on behalf of the Minister of Law and Constitutional Affairs, Justice Mahase and His Majesty King Letsie III. Mr Monaheng Rasekoai represented Attorney General.

The case was supposed to have been heard in open court but as soon as proceedings began on Monday, Adv Tele asked that the matter be discussed in chambers on the basis that there were secret issues that needed to be discussed away from the prying eyes of the media.

Once in chambers, the sources say that Adv Tele asked that Justice Mahase delegate her powers to allocate judges to the case in which Justice Majara is challenging the government’s decision to suspend her from office.

This however, led to heated exchanges as the government side argued that it was not necessary for Justice Mahase to delegate as this was a purely administrative issue which would not have any bearing on Justice Majara’s petition.

“Tensions ran very high between the two sides when they were addressing the Acting Chief Justice in her chambers. The heated argument was over the Section 12 of the High Court Act which talks to the administrate powers bestowed on the Chief Justice.

“The side representing Justice Majara argued that the acting Chief Justice must delegate her powers to allocate judges to this case (Justice Majara’s petition) and the other side argued that she does not have to delegate as that was purely an administrative matter,” a source said.

Another source said the heated arguments between the two sides spilled into the corridors after Justice Mahase decided that the matter will be heard on Tuesday (yesterday) in an open court.

“One of the lawyers representing Justice Majara went as far as wagging a finger at another lawyer (name withheld) from the opposing sides,” the source said.

Both sides refused to comment on record on the allegations.

The tensions however, spilled into the open court on Tuesday when Justice Mahase interrupted Adv Tele’s submissions and abruptly postponed the matter to next Thursday.

The Tuesday court session began with Justice Mahase telling the lawyers that she was not obligated to take any advice from them as to how she must “distribute this business” (of allocating judges to cases).

Adv Tele rose and stated that the Monday discussions in chambers were not arguments but merely informal discussions.

He further argued that it was not proper for Justice Mahase to make a ruling on a matter in which she was a respondent.

“You can’t make a ruling in a matter that you can’t preside over,” Adv Tele argued before Justice Mahase, adding, “you are a respondent in the matter”.

“You (Justice Mahase) have now convened the courts but you cannot preside over this matter because you are a respondent, your appointment is being challenged and therefore you are conflicted. We can’t make an argument before a party that is conflicted.

“No, it can’t be. Everything else cries out to the fact you can’t preside over this matter. It is not just a simple matter of administration. I am trying to refrain myself from arguing this matter but demonstrate that you should have nothing to do with this matter. Nowhere in the world can this happen,” Adv Tele said.

He further said that they were not purporting to tell Justice Mahase what to do but expected that the High Court administration should do the right in the matter. He said that Justice Mahase “cannot hear herself in the matter” and, appealed to her conscience “to do what is right”.

“You have no reason to fight. You know the right thing,” Adv tele stated.

On his part, Adv Ndebele argued that Justice Mahase was well within her rights to allocate judges to preside over Justice Majara’s petition. He said Justice Majara’s argument for Justice Mahase to delegate her authority to the Registrar to allocate judges was tantamount to making the Registrar a chief justice.

“The real issue is whether or not she (Justice Mahase) can allocate this matter to other judges who will preside over this matter. She has powers, as per section 12 of the High Court Act, to distribute and allocate the business of this honourable court. It is not your (Justice Mahase) choice to be a respondent,” Adv Ndebele said, adding that Justice Mahase was added on the list of the respondents to frustrate the process and ensure that she is conflicted.

Adv Ndebele further argued that if for any reason the acting chief justice was unable to perform her duties, the Prime Minister would have to advise King Letsie III to appoint a senior judge to perform her duties.

On his part, Mr Rasekoai said “there is absolutely no blemish that can prevent the acting chief justice from performing her duties. We remain unmoved on the matter.”

After the submissions from both sides, Justice Mahase said that she was empowered by the law to allocate cases to judges. She said there was nothing unique and untoward in her situation as the suspended Justice Majara had also allocated judges to matters that involved her.

She postponed the case to next Thursday.

The post Tempers flare in Majara case appeared first on Lesotho Times.

…repeal wool and mohair regulations or we take ‘serious measures’

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE government’s stand-off with farmers went a notch higher this week with the farmers threatening to “take serious measures” against Prime Minister Thomas Thabane should he ignore their seven-day ultimatum to reverse laws which bar them from selling their wool and mohair from South Africa.

Led by the Lesotho National Wool and Mohair Growers Association (LNWMGA), thousands of farmers this week staged a protest march in Maseru to force the government to yield to their demands.

For the past 44 years, Basotho farmers have been selling their fabric from South Africa through brokers BKB.

But on 4 May this year, the Agriculture Minister, Mahala Molapo, torched a storm when he gazetted the Agricultural Marketing (Wool and Mohair Licensing) Regulations of 2018.

The regulations forbid anyone to trade in wool and mohair without a licence obtained from the Ministry of Small Business, Cooperatives and Marketing.

The regulations further state that “the holder of an export licence shall not export wool and mohair unless it is prepared, brokered, traded and auctioned in Lesotho”.

Any person found guilty of brokering, testing, processing, trading and auctioning wool and mohair without a licence is liable to a fine of M50 000 or a maximum of five years imprisonment.

Anyone found to be in the business of shearing wool and mohair or exporting without a licence will be fined M20 000 or be imprisoned for two years.

Mr Molapo recently defended the regulations in an interview with the Lesotho Times. He said that having the wool and mohair sold from Lesotho would boost the foreign currency reserves as the international buyers paid for the products in United States dollars.

He further said as things stood, the foreign exchange benefits from the sale of wool and mohair accrued to the South African economy instead of Lesotho.

“Lesotho fabric is exported to international markets such as India, Australia, Italy and China. So, the broker who sells it on behalf of the farmers is paid in US dollars.

“The broker then takes the US dollars to the South African Reserve Bank and this means the foreign currency from overseas remains in the South African economy with Lesotho only receiving what the broker gives to the farmers after deducting all their expenses,” Mr Molapo said. He also said that selling the wool and mohair from Lesotho would also give this country international recognition as currently, it was presumed that South Africa was the country of origin for the product.

He further said that by selling its wool and mohair from South Africa, Lesotho was missing out on benefitting from duty-free and other exemptions extended to least developed countries.

But the farmers are having none of the government’s arguments and this week they came in their thousands from different parts of the country to hand over a petition to Dr Thabane in Maseru.

Dressed in sheep skins and grey blankets which are associated with herd boys, the farmers began arriving at the Pope Paul II monument in Katlehong, Maseru at about 8:30am.

They later marched to the Moshoeshoe I Statute, singing sings urging the government to free the wool and mohair industry allegedly from the clutches of Small Businesses Minister Chalane Phori and his Trade counterpart, Tefo Mapesela.

Messrs Phori and Mapesela have been very vocal in their defence of the regulations and they even embarked on countrywide tours in June this year in an effort to win over the farmers.

But on Monday the farmers registered their resistance to the regulations through songs like Mona ha re a tlela masaoana, Mona ha re a tlela Mapesela (loosely translated to mean that “we are not here for jokes, we are not here for Mapesela”).

At the Moshoeshoe I Statute, the farmers’ petition was received by Mr Molapo and Development Planning minister Tlohelang Aumane on behalf of Dr Thabane.

Dr Thabane is currently in the United States where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly.

The farmers said they were forced to deliver a second petition because they were ignored when they first wrote to Dr Thabane on 23 August 2018.

In their petition which was drafted by LNWMGA national chairperson Mokoenihi Thinyane, the farmers gave Dr Thabane seven days to withdraw the wool and mohair regulations, claiming the new rules had ruined their hitherto profitable businesses.

“Dear Prime Minister, we the small stock family submitting this second petition humbly request you to withdraw the regulations so that we are able to put bread on our tables.

“Kindly note that we are left with no option but to give you only seven working days to withdraw those legislations. Otherwise we shall take serious measures against His Majesty’s government. We have tried in vain to take all legal ways to solve this man-made problem but the government has decided to ignore all court orders in our favour only to impoverish the men and women of the merino and angora family.

“We remain the largest, strongest and oldest Basotho commodity association in the country. We achieved that through a proper choice of fibre sale method, hard work, unity and avoidance of party politics in our association,” the farmers stated.

They further said that more than more than 150 000 livelihoods were affected by the regulations which had stopped them from freely selling their wool and mohair through the South African broker, BKB.

“Prime Minister, kindly note that our income is derived from the once a year harvest of wool and mohair. It is therefore of paramount importance for us to notify your office that the once a year income is not only spent on our families but also the maintenance of the stockmen at our sheep and goat posts. We should also bear in mind the operational costs meant to maintain the same flock in terms of supplementary feeds, medicine and veterinary costs which are borne by us.

“It is worrying when regulations are forced upon us only to disturb the stable market of our fibre and other related contracts. It makes matters worse that this is done without consultations as if we live in a dictatorship state not democracy.”

Mr Thinyane also said that the LNWMGA had shares BKB and therefore they had a lot to lose by cutting ties with the South African firm.

“We (LNWMGA) have shareholding at BKB and for last year only, we got dividends of M1, 2 million. Therefore, if we were to stop business with them we would lose our wealth to the South African company.

“On top of that, we pay insurance in South Africa which protects our fibre from possible damage. For instance, in 2009 our truck carrying 156 bales of wool was hijacked just after it crossed into South Africa and the owners of the consignment were compensated for the loss,” Mr Thinyane said.

On their part, Messrs Molapo and Aumane promised to deliver the letter to the PM’s office but said Dr Thabane would only be able to address the issue on his return from the United States.

“I admire the proper channel you used to address your grievances but this issue concerns the Prime Minster directly and unfortunately he is out of the country.

“Therefore, this means that he will only be able to address the issue when he returns. It is therefore impossible to get the response within the seven days you have demanded…When the Prime Minister returns we can assure you that you will get a response,” Mr Molapo said.

The post Farmers’ ultimatum to Thabane appeared first on Lesotho Times.

• Deputy Prime Minister Moleleki steps in as Phamotse and Litjobo allegedly face-off in power struggle

Pascalinah Kabi

DEPUTY Prime Minister Monyane Moleleki was this week forced to step in to diffuse escalating tensions which are threatening to tear apart his Alliance of Democrats (AD) party.

This was after youths said to be loyal to party spokesperson Thuso Litjobo recently set fire to party property in a violent demonstration against the secretary general, Mahali Phamotse.

The AD is one of the four parties in the year-old governing coalition along with Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC) which is having its own internal fights which have seen at least three senior officials being suspended from the party or kicked out of government.

So vicious and violent is the power struggle within the AD that the insiders allege that Mr Litjobo recently organised a mob to burn party property at the AD’s Maseru East offices. The demonstrators wanted Dr Phamotse fired from her party position and from government where she holds the post of Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation.

Mr Litjobo, who is also a legislator through the proportional representation system, has however, denied orchestrating the violence which saw youths set fire which destroyed office property.

The destroyed property includes a machine used to process membership cards, a computer, two doors, sofas, eight plastic chairs and table cloths.

The mob accused Dr Phamotse of fanning factionalism and other offences which have allegedly brought the party into disrepute. The party youths alleged that Dr Phamotse was behind the formation of a faction calling itself Babochabela (those who come from the Northern region).

They further accused Dr Phamotse of firing two AD members from her ministry and replacing them with a member of former Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili’s Democratic Congress (DC) party which is now in the opposition. The AD is a splinter party from the DC.

The demonstrators subsequently handed over a petition to the AD’s deputy leader, Ntoi Rapapa.

“This petition serves to show that we no longer want ‘M’e Mahali Phamotse as the party secretary general or as Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation,” part of the petition states, adding, “Her removal will protect the good image of AD, the coalition government and His Majesty King Letsie III’s image as head of Lesotho”.

The petitioners further said “the secretary general (Phamotse) is embarrassing us by employing her own children through corrupt means and one of her children receives a salary from the Ministry of Water despite the fact that the child in question does not work at that ministry”.

However, Mr Moleleki had no kind words for the violent youths when he addressed them and other party supporters at the party offices early this week.

He said although their actions warranted arson charges, he had pleaded with the police to “have mercy on them only for this time”.

He however, said he would not make it a habit to plead with the police to forgive anyone who had committed a crime. He added that no one, including His Majesty King Letsie III, Prime Minister Thabane, cabinet ministers and himself had any right to tell the police how to do their job.

“What you did was a clear sign of disrespect for me as the leader of this party because you should have come to me when you had grievances instead of burning our property which has been donated by good Samaritans,” Mr Moleleki said, adding such behaviour was bound to undo the work that was being done to attract new members.

“If there is any adult who is behind this, I don’t know what to say to them. The people who are behind these actions must know that AD will not offer them any assistance in times of trouble. The AD will not go out of its way to pay legal fees for you and you will be on your own.

“I was in Cape Town when I received a call alerting me of the actions of the youth and I immediately ordered that the matter be reported to the police because arson is a crime,” Mr Moleleki said, adding, he subsequently made an about-turn and asked the police to “have mercy on the youths” because he had forgiven them.

He said the youths’ recklessness had forced him into pleading with the police to let them go free, adding this was something he had never done before.

“What you did didn’t sit well with me. I have never done this before in my life. No one is allowed to tell the police how to do their job and I am not telling them how to do it. But I am only pleading for mercy on your behalf. Please don’t put me in a tight spot by destroying property when you are angry.

“Please understand that what you did was wrong and I condemn your actions. I am only asking for mercy on your behalf because you are still young and don’t know how things work.”

Mr Moleleki said it was particularly galling that the violence was committed at a time when he was out of the country with the chief executive officer of the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC), Mohato Seleke, “to negotiate with one of the big investors who wants to invest in this country”.

He said the party youths were wrong in thinking that errant AD members could not be fired from government, adding that any Mosotho who violated their contractual obligations with the government was bound to sacked.

He however, said he had pleaded with Dr Phamotse to postpone the legal measures she had planned against the two AD members who were employed in her ministry. He said the postponement would enable him (Mr Moleleki) to first address the party youths.

“The Secretary General briefed me on this matter and I asked her to halt the process to allow me to first address you. The fact that she is taking legal measures against AD members pained you but you are wrong to think that AD members cannot be fired. AD members will be fired from this government and if you think that cannot happen, then you are misdirected.”

AD sources told this publication that Dr Phamotse’s contemplated measures against the two AD members were seized upon by Mr Litjobo and his supporters in their ongoing power struggle with the former.

The sources said the Phamotse-Litjobo spat had its genesis in the struggle for power prior to the party’s elective conference in March this year where Dr Phamotse emerged as the secretary general.

Mr Litjobo, Dr Phamotse and former secretary general, Mokhele Moletsane had all been asked by Mr Moleleki to withdraw from the race for the secretary general’s post for fear that the election of any one of them could cause divisions among their supporters which could weaken the party.

“All these three are my handiwork because I am the one who politically mentored them when they joined politics more than 11 years ago. I know their capabilities and flaws. I therefore, advise you not to elect one and let the other two fall. It is your choice at the end of the day but please make sure that you don’t make decisions that you will regret later,” Mr Moleleki said on the eve of the party’s elective conference in March.

Only Mr Litjobo heeded Mr Moleleki’s call and withdrew his candidature, leaving Ms Phamotse to slug it out with Mr Moletsane.

This week the sources said that “prior to the elective conference, there were three camps- that of ‘M’e Mahali, Ntate Litjobo and Ntate Moletsane”.

“’M’e Mahali and Ntate Litjobo joined forces against the group that supported Ntate Moletsane. They were victorious and their alliance worked well until Ntate Litjobo started accusing ‘M’e Mahali of enjoying cordial relations with Ntate Moletsane’s camp.

“It must be understood that while it is normal for any entity to go into elective conference divided, every leader voted into power should work to unite the same camps that went into the elective conference divided,” one source, said, adding Mr Litjobo was miffed by Dr Phamotse’s attempts to reconcile with Mr Moletsane after her election.

Another source said Mr Litjobo should shoulder the blame for the damage caused by the mob.

“Ntate Litjobo sent the youths to destroy the property. That is how he operates. He organised the naïve youth members to fight his own battles and to make matters even worse, his two wives were among the youths that stormed the party office. How can Ntate Litjobo say he did not know about this (storming of the party offices) beforehand when his wives were part of it? He was behind this and the leadership of the AD knows about that,” the source said.

Contacted for comment, Mr Litjobo however, denied the allegations, saying “the problem with you journalists is coming to me with statements made by anonymous sources and you want me to respond to faceless individuals”.

“I am only going to give you a response because I respect you. Otherwise I don’t have the time and energy to entertain allegations made by faceless people. Go and tell your sources that o ntsa pota (loosely translated to mean that ‘your source is talking nonsense’).

“If your source is an AD member, he should have listened to our leader on Sunday and stop behaving like a rebel and criminal.

“I wonder who they (the sources) are taking after because the AD was not founded on the basis of lies but honesty and unity that our leader preaches. On the issue of my wives, let me just say that all the things your sources have told you are lies,” Mr Litjobo said.

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’Marafaele Mohloboli

PROMINENT Mokhotlong wool and mohair farmer Khotsang Moshoeshoe, who recently hit the headlines when he was filmed having an altercation with Trade and Industry Tefo Mapesela, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Moshoeshoe stands accused of contravening Sections 23, 74 and 84 of the Penal Code Act of 2010 which criminalise behaviour that breaches the public peace.

Section 23, subsection of the Penal Code states that “a person who counsels, procures or incites another to do any act or make any such omission of such a nature that if the act were done or the omis­sion were made, an offence would thereby be committed, commits an offence”.

Section 76 (1) stipulates that “a person who, with a number of other people, come together in an unlawful gathering with the intention of defying or subverting the authority of the government of Lesotho… commits an offence of sedition.

Section 84 states that “a person who, in a public place, uses obscene, abusive, threatening or insulting words or behaviour or otherwise conducts himself with intent to provoke a breach of the peace or in such a manner that a breach of the peace is committed or likely to be committed, commits an offence”.

Acting police spokesperson Senior Inspector Rantoane Motsoetla yesterday confirmed Mr Moshoeshoe’s arrest.

“Mr Khotsang Moshoeshoe, a Mosotho man of Ha Mojakisane in the Mokhotlong district is in police custody at Mokhotlong facing for contravening some sections of the Penal Code Act of 2010,” Senior Insp Motsoetla said, adding Mr Moshoeshoe would appear in court once the investigations were completed.

Senior Inspector Motsoetla did not however disclose the specific charges that could be preferred against Mr Moshoeshoe.

Three weeks ago, Mr Moshoeshoe barred Minister Mapesela for closing some shearing plants as part of the government’s crusade to force wool and mohair farmers to adhere to the Agricultural Marketing (Wool and Mohair Licensing) Regulations of 2018 which have roundly criticized and resisted by the farmers.

The regulations forbid anyone to trade in wool and mohair without a licence obtained from the Ministry of Small Business, Cooperatives and Marketing.

The regulations further state that “the holder of an export licence shall not export wool and mohair unless it is prepared, brokered, traded and auctioned in Lesotho”.

Any person found guilty of brokering, testing, processing, trading and auctioning wool and mohair without a licence is liable to a fine of M50 000 or a maximum of five years imprisonment.

Anyone found to be in the business of shearing wool and mohair or exporting without a licence will be fined M20 000 or be imprisoned for two years.

Last week the government’s stand-off with farmers scaled unprecedented levels when thousands of farmers organised by the Lesotho National Wool and Mohair Growers Association (LNWMGA) from across the country staged a protest march in Maseru to force the government to reverse the regulations.

Before that Mr Moshoeshoe was filmed having a heated argument with Mr Mapesela who wanted to close a shearing shed. A second video also showed Mr Moshoeshoe remonstrating with some police officers who wanted to close the shearing facility.

Mr Mapesela this week told the Lesotho Times that he did not habour any grudges or personal vendetta against Mr Moshoeshoe despite their altercation.

“I have no personal vendetta against him and I won’t sue him, unless the police will sue him for what he did. Mr Moshoeshoe didn’t just call me a boy, he also insulted me with unprintable insults but because I was there on my capacity as a minister, it’s now an issue between him and the law enforcement institutions of this country.

“He has defeated the ends of justice, insulted me and barred me from doing my job and calling me a dreamer, he should have gone to the courts of law and sued me than insult me. That man insulted me but I ignored his provocation because I am highly professional,” Mr Mapesela said.

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Herbert Moyo

MOST Basotho want the powers of the prime minister to be limited to just two terms in office. The majority also want the prime minister to be more accountable to parliament and to always obey court rulings and the country’s laws.

This and the fact that the majority of Basotho want the government to be accountable to the people, even if that limits its efficiency, are part of the latest findings by a leading research institute, Afrobarometer.

Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues in Africa.

The internationally acclaimed research institute also found that as the country embarks on the constitutional, security sector, governance, media and judicial reforms that were recommended by SADC in 2016, most Basotho want the information held by public officials to be made more accessible to the public.

Forty percent of those interviewed say they would have trouble obtaining information about the country’s development plans and even school budgets.

However, the major issue in the Afrobarometer research was that of the term of office of the prime minister. Currently, there is no limit to the tenure of the prime minister and the majority of respondents to the recent Afrobarometer survey say this must change.

“Six in 10 Basotho (62 percent) favour limiting the prime minister to a maximum of two terms in office,” Afrobarometer reported in its latest findings.

“(The majority of) Basotho support limits on executive power. Majorities say the prime minister should be accountable to parliament (62 percent) and must always obey laws and courts (86 percent).

“A majority (57 percent) of Basotho say it is more important that the government be accountable to the people than that it get things done and this is a modest decrease from 62 percent (who held this view) in 2014. However, four in 10 Basotho disagree, arguing that having an efficient government is more important, even if citizens have no influence over what it does.”

Afrobarometer found that the preference for accountability over efficiency was stronger among rural residents (59 percent), senior Basotho (64 percent), those without any formal education (61 percent) and poorer respondents (60 percent).

When asked who should hold the prime minister accountable for doing his job, Basotho divided the responsibility between other elected officials. Thirty eight percent said this should be done by parliament or community councils while 36 percent said the premier should be accountable to the electorate.

“Judicial oversight and controls are also important limits on executive powers in a democracy. Almost nine out of 10 Basotho (86 percent) share the view that the prime minister must always obey the laws and courts, even if he thinks they are wrong.

“This represents a 20-percentage-point increase from 66 percent who held this view in 2014. Conversely, the share of Basotho who feel that the prime minister, as the elected leader of the country, should not be bound by laws and courts dropped by about half to 12 percent,” Afrobarometer found.

The research institute also found that 57 percent of the respondents also demanded access to information as a way of ensuring political leaders and public officials were accountable to the populace.

The findings come at a time when Lesotho has begun processes that expected to culminate in the implementation of constitutional, security sector, media and governance reforms that were recommended by the Southern African Development Community in 2016.

It remains to be seen whether or not the issue of the term limits for the prime minister will be placed on the agenda for constitutional reform.

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Limpho Sello

WOMEN in Matelile in the Mafeteng district have declared war on criminals and appealed to the government to consider imposing the death penalty to punish offenders and deter like-minded people from criminal activities.

The women said this at a recent public gathering in Matelile that was also attended by some cabinet ministers, the commissioner of police Holomo Molibeli, senior police officers from the district as well as members of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF).

According to the Death Penalty Worldwide website, Lesotho reported to the United Nations Human Rights Council that its last execution was carried out in 1995.

However, the Mafeteng women have called for the courts to impose the death sentence as punishment and deterrent after a spate of murders that have rocked the district in recent years.

A spokesperson of the women, Mamikia Nkonyana, said they were frustrated and devastated by the killings and criminal activities in Matelile and nearby areas that robbed them of breadwinners and destroyed the futures of their children.

Ms Nkonyana said the judgements appeared to be very lenient to criminals, adding that the death penalty must be imposed to stem the tide of killings.

“To the best of my knowledge, we have the death penalty in Lesotho which the government should impose to bring the offenders to book,” Ms Nkonyana said.

“I’m very sure that if one or two people could be hanged after being found guilty of murder or rape, this would instill fear and deter others from killing people. Surely the murder statistics would go down.

“The people who kill today do so because they have familiarised themselves with the justice system of Lesotho and they have learned that they justice system is very slow and lenient on them even as they kill and commit other crimes.

“The killings have gone on for many years and as women we have been standing back doing nothing. We have too many corpses of the victims of the killings in our graveyards. The gun continues to finish off our children and mess up the future of this country.

“The time is now as women to stand up against the killings that we are faced with in Matelile and the entire Mafeteng district. This (killings) seem to be a virus that has spread in the district and if we don’t fight it now it is going to finish us” Ms Nkonyana said.

Speaking at the same gathering, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Affairs, Mokhele Moletsane, said he understood the community’s frustrations as the court processes seemed to drag for long periods. He said the judiciary needed to be reformed so that it could expedite trials to ensure justice was done.

He said that the issue of the death penalty was controversial and the general international feeling was that it should be abolished.

He however, said that the government was sympathetic to the concerns of the public and as such the death penalty would remain for the foreseeable future. He did not provide a timeframe as to when the government would ensure the death penalty was imposed.

“The death sentence is a debate at the international level and we still uphold it as a country because murders are being committed at an alarming rate in the country and to ours is to ensure that the public is protected,” Mr Moletsane said.

For his part, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mofokeng Kolo, said the police worked tirelessly to prevent crime, protect the community and take suspects to court.

ACP Kolo said it was unfortunate that beyond investigating, apprehending suspects and taking them to court, the police could not do anything else but leave it to the courts to pronounce judgements. He said it was necessary for the laws to be reviewed as suspects often got bail and this caused great bitterness in the community when suspects were freed days after being arrested.

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’Marafaele Mohloboli

FORMER Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili says he will approach his successor Thomas Thabane to deal with Trade and Industry minister Tefo Mapesela who the former accuses of behaviour that is unbecoming for a minister.

Dr Mosisili, who leads the opposition Democratic Congress (DC) party said this while addressing a weekend rally that was attended by hundreds of party members at Maseru High School in Maseru.

He said he would soon engage Dr Thabane to call Mr Mapesela to order because the latter was an insult to His Majesty’s cabinet and he did not deserve to be a minister due to his disrespect for chiefs as well as the wool and mohair farmers.

Mr Mapesela torched a storm with his recent blistering attack on some chiefs, among them Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso of Matsieng and Lesaoana Peete of Kueneng. The minister was peeved by the chiefs’ decision to attend South African brokers BKB’s wool and mohair auction in Port Elizabeth, South Africa last week.

BKB has been caught up in tug of war between the government and local farmers after the government set new rules that forbid anyone to trade in wool and mohair without a licence obtained from the Ministry of Small Business, Cooperatives and Marketing.

The regulations further state that “the holder of an export licence shall not export wool and mohair unless it is prepared, brokered, traded and auctioned in Lesotho”.

Any person found guilty of brokering, testing, processing, trading and auctioning wool and mohair without a licence is liable to a fine of M50 000 or a maximum of five years imprisonment.

Anyone found to be in the business of shearing wool and mohair or exporting without a licence will be fined M20 000 or be imprisoned for two years.

BKB has been caught up in the government and the farmers’ fight because it has been buying Lesotho’s wool and mohair and exporting it from South Africa for more than 40 years.

The government says the regulations are meant to benefit farmers but the farmers say they are meant to benefit a company owned by a Stone Shi, an Australian-Chinese man who is said to be close to some ministers.

Mr Mapesela took exception to the chiefs attending the BKB event and called them marenanyana (little chiefs) who had been “bribed with drinks” into seemingly endorsing BKB against the government’s directive that all wool and mohair be exported from Lesotho.

And on Sunday, Dr Mosisili described Mr Mapesela as an insult to His Majesty’s cabinet.

“I have never seen such a character of a minister,” Dr Mosisili told the DC faithful.

“I have never seen such criminality. If it’s not about closing the shearing plants, then it’s insulting the chiefs. Oh my word, whose child is this?

“Ntate Thabane is not doing justice to Basotho with this kind of a minister. I will ask him (Dr Thabane) to come to the aid of the people.

“He (Mr Mapesela) is not fit to be minister and he is degrading that position.”

Dr Mosisili also laid into Mr Mapesela for seeking to close wool and mohair shearing plants across the country.

Shortly after Mr Mapesela’s attack of the chiefs, he attempted to shut down some shearing plants and in one instance he was met with resistance by one of the principal breeders, Khotsang Moshoeshoe in Mokhotlong.

A video clip of the incident showed a visibly irate Mr Mapesela pacing up and down with hands in pockets and threatening, “I will close this plant”.

Mr Moshoeshoe responded by saying, “I dare you boy, you won’t close this plant”.

“This plant doesn’t belong to the government.”

Commenting on the altercation, Dr Mosisili said the government was busying itself with issues that did not concern it.

“These farmers are not demanding anything from government to sustain their business. It is entirely their business as to where they sell their commodity,” the former Prime Minister said.

Mr Mapesela however, shot back by saying despite being the longest-serving premier that Lesotho has ever had, Dr Mosisili was a failure.

“He is the longest serving Prime Minister and he is a dismal failure. He owes Basotho an apology for having failed them. He has no right to tell Ntate Thabane who to appoint and when to dismiss anyone.

“The least that he can do is to mind the affairs of his constituency because he is just an ordinary legislator for the Tsoelike constituency. He is not even the leader of the opposition in parliament. As for me, I have every right to inspect every business in this country because I am the only minister of Trade and Industry,” Mr Mapesela said in an interview with this publication.

The government spokesperson, Nthakeng Selinyane, defended Mr Mapesela, saying the latter was motivated by the quest to “retain national wealth within our borders”.

He suggested that Dr Mosisili did not have the moral high ground to attack Mr Mapesela as the former had “presided over the erosion of the country’s wealth via the notorious Bidvest contract” which still weighed down on the government even now.

The Mosisili-led former government courted controversy by awarding the vehicle fleet services tender to Bidvest without going to tender in August 2016.

The Bidvest deal, which was for 48 months, was prematurely terminated in April 2017 at the huge cost of M108 million, the Auditor General’s report for the 2017/2018 financial year revealed.

Dr Mosisili’s government was ousted in the aftermath of the 3 June 2017 elections which ushered in the Thabane-led four party coalition government. The current government comprises of Dr Thabane’s All Basotho Convention party, the Alliance of Democrats, the Basotho National Party and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho.

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’Marafaele Mohloboli

FORMER Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Democratic Congress (DC) Pakalitha Mosisili says he has had his chance and will never seek to be voted as prime minister again even if his party was to win the next elections.

Dr Mosisili said he had even laid the groundwork for a successor by stepping aside to allow his deputy, Mathibeli Mokhothu, to be elected leader of the opposition in parliament.

Dr Mosisili said this while addressing a weekend rally that was attended by hundreds of party members at Maseru High School in Maseru.

He served as prime minister from May 1998 to June 2012 and again from March 2015 to June 2017 when he lost the snap elections. All Basotho Convention (ABC) leader Thomas Thabane became prime minister after his party entered into a coalition to with the Alliance of Democrats (AD) led by Dr Mosisili’s former deputy in the DC, Monyane Moleleki, the Basotho National Party and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho.

Prior to the 2017 elections, the DC endured a power struggle which led to the departure of Mr Moleleki, several then DC legislators and other party members to form the AD.

And on Sunday, Dr Mosisili urged all those who left the party to return, saying it was necessary to unite so that the congress movement would once again wield power as it had comfortably done before the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) split into various political outfits including the DC.

“I swear by the Almighty living God that even if my party were to do well in the next elections I won’t be prime minister,” Dr Mosisili said on Sunday.

“I am the longest serving prime minister of this Kingdom and I feel honoured. I am not crying to be prime minister again, that is why I even have my deputy leader (Mokhothu) as the leader of opposition in parliament. All that I’m crying for is for the congress movement to rule again.

“I beg all those that left on my account to come back because I shall never be prime minister again even if the DC wins in the next elections. Come back and build this party.”

Dr Mosisili said that it was unfortunate that the divisions in the congress movement had enabled the ‘nationalist’ ABC and BNP to win power and subject the masses to alleged oppression and human rights violations.

“Today we are all suffering at the hands of the nationals. We have learnt the hard way that nothing good will ever come out of the nationalists ruling this country. Each time the nationals are in power democracy suffers because it is not in them to respect democracy.

“This is not by chance that they don’t respect democracy. In 1970 (the then BNP leader) Leabua Jonathan flatly refused to give up power because he was a national and he said ‘I have ceased power and I am not ashamed of it.’

“Even today people are still being brutally killed and some are locked up and kept in custody without standing trial. All these atrocities wouldn’t be happening if you had needed our call and voted as we had strategised. Now we are all feeling the pinch.”

He said the opposition had suspended its participation in the reforms process because of the human rights violations and the government’s constant meddling with the judiciary to remove Chief Justice Nthomeng Majara.

He also accused the government of violating the rights of murder-accused former army commander Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli in custody for a long time without trial.

Lt-Gen Kamoli has been in custody since October 2017 awaiting trial for the 30 August 2014 killing of Police Sub-Inspector, Mokheseng Ramahloko.

Sub-Inspector Ramahloko was shot and killed by soldiers during the attempted coup of 30 August 2014 at the Police Headquarters in Maseru.

He also faces 14 attempted murder charges stemming from the 27 January 2014 simultaneous bombings of the Moshoeshoe II homes of First Lady Maesaiah Thabane and the Ha Abia residence of former police commissioner Khothatso Tšooana.

On Sunday, Dr Mosisili said the opposition had asked the government to speedily try Lt-Gen Kamoli or release him “but to date nothing has come out of that and he remains in detention”.

“We have no problem with him (Lt-Gen Kamoli) being tried but we have a problem when he is kept in custody without being given a fair trial.

“Everything is stagnant in the judiciary because the government is busy chasing the Chief Justice instead of dealing with cases that have been presented before the courts of law. A bad government makes bad decisions.

He said the government had witnessed numerous cabinet reshuffles in the short space of a year. He further accused the premier of delaying to fill the vacancies left by ministers who had resigned thus compromising the efficiency of government.

“The government has only been in power for a year but the changes in the cabinet are immense. It is a mess and I have never seen such.

“Some former ministers were accused of being corrupt and dismissed. Now no one is filling those vacancies.”

He also accused the government of unfairly dismissing youths who were employed in the Ministry of Home Affairs and by the National Security Services because they allegedly supported the congress parties such as the DC and the LCD.

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Ntsebeng Motsoeli

THE Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) and South Africa’s Free State police department have launched a manhunt for three Basotho nationals who allegedly shot and killed four people in two separate incidents in Meqheleng, Ficksburg over the weekend.

The police suspect that the killings were motivated by the ongoing factional fights among famo musicians.

This week, the South African Police Service (SAPS) Free State Media Centre revealed that during the early hours of Saturday, three Basotho men stormed a tent which was full of mourners at a vigil and indiscriminately opened fire.

Two people were killed on the spot while six others were rushed to hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

“A 60-year-old man was killed as well as a female who was asleep in her house after she was hit by a stray bullet,” SAPS said, adding, “Six people were rushed to hospital with multiple gunshot wounds”.

The South African police further said that the gunmen fled the scene and an hour later they shot and killed two men aged 33 and 38 at another house in Ficksburg.

“In another incident, at about 2:30 am, friends were sitting outside a house in Meqheleng when an unknown number of males wearing blankets entered the yard and started shooting randomly. Two males, aged 33 and 38 were fatally wounded and were certified dead at the scene, while two others sustained gunshot wounds in their lower back. Neighbours called the police but however upon their arrival, the suspects had already fled the scene, heading towards the Lesotho border.”

SAPS said it has established a task team consisting of detectives, crime intelligence unit, technical response team (TRT) and public order police to trace the perpetrators.

On his part, the LMPS’ acting spokesperson, Senior Inspector Rantoane Motsoetla said they suspected that the killers belong to one of the Famo music factions whose clashes have resulted in brutal murders in the past.

Snr Insp Motsoetla said it is suspected that killers were avenging the death of one of their members who was killed in a shootout with the police three weeks ago.

“We believe that the killings are one of the strings of retaliations amongst the Famo music groups. The Ficksburg killings happened at a night vigil of one member of the clashing groups who was shot and killed in a fire exchange with the police some three weeks back.

“The man and his partner had ambushed a commuter minibus that belonged to a member of a rival Famo group. They shot the driver and his helper who later died while the former sustained serious gunshot wounds,” Snr Insp Motsoetla said.

Snr Insp Motsoetla further said that Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli and the Acting Free State Provincial Commissioner Major General Solly Lesia met in Ladybrand on Monday to discuss an action plan to investigate and end the Famo-related killings.

“We cannot divulge the details of the meeting lest we give away pieces of crucial information that would jeopardise the investigations,” Snr Insp Motsoetla said.

The feuding among famo musicians has been escalating in recent times.

Less than month ago, Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s bodyguards had to scramble to their vehicles to retrieve guns to protect the premier after the All Basotho Convention’s (ABC) rally in Mapoteng in the Berea district descended into chaos.

The chaos and potential security risk to Dr Thabane and other government and party officials occurred in the aftermath of heated exchanges and threats of violence among members of the Terene group of famo musicians.

The famo musicians also traded barbs with some of the government officials and brushed aside attempts by some cabinet ministers to calm down tempers at the rally.

Led by one Ntei Tšehlana, the militant famo musicians used the rally to accuse unnamed senior ABC and government officials of denying them access to Dr Thabane whenever they sought to present their welfare concerns. They also accused some of their members of being sell-outs who allowed themselves to be used by cabinet ministers to the detriment of the unspecified interests of the famo group.

A fortnight ago, Dr Thabane promised to give security agencies more powers to deal with corruption and other criminal activities including the famo-related killings.

He said it was disheartening that the rivalries among famo musicians had become so deadly that they were frequently killing each other.

“My administration has decided to put this kind of behaviour to an end as a matter of urgency. We are going to act urgently against corruption, criminal activities including senseless killings and the misuse of guns and other weapons which are being used to destroy lives.

“I am giving a directive to the Commissioner of Police, the Commander of the Lesotho Defence Force and the Director of the National Security Services to hold hands to end these killings and protect public property.

“I am going to give these agencies more powers so that these deeds (killings) become history once and for all,” Dr Thabane said without specifying what kind of powers the security agencies would be given.

Dr Thabane said he had intervened in the spat between famo musicians, Rethabile Mokete (popularly known as Khosi Mosotho Chakela) and Sarele Sello (popularly known as Lehlanya of ‘Terene’ group). The premier said he expected the duo to be on their best behaviour henceforth.

“I have intervened between these two because they are my spiritual sons and I am not expecting to hear any more negative stories about them.”

He said it was disheartening that the famo musicians continued fighting among themselves despite the fact that the ruling All Basotho Convention supported them by buying their music and dancing to it at their rallies.

Dr Thabane said if the killings persisted the public should shun famo and opt for music from artistes from other genres who were devoted to entertainment.

The post Lesotho, SA Police launch manhunt for killers appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Mohalenyane Phakela

FINANCE Minister Moeketsi Majoro says talks are ongoing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other development partners for financial rescue package to help stabilise the economy.

The government and the IMF have been in talks over a financial bailout since June this year to enable Lesotho to reduce the budget deficit and boost its foreign currency reserves.

Dr Majoro previously said that an agreement would be reached by the end of August but this has not been the case and it is not clear whether or not a deal will be reached.

However, the IMF which was in Lesotho from 23 August to 5 September for talks with Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro and other government representatives, has ruled out a quick deal.

Instead the Bretton Woods Institution has predicated the granting of a bailout package on the government’s ability to craft and implement prudent policy measures.

“Significant progress was made during the visit and discussions will continue in the coming weeks,” The IMF said in a recent statement.

“If agreement is reached on policy measures…an arrangement to support Lesotho’s economic programme could be proposed for the IMF Executive Board’s consideration.”

The IMF-prescribed policy measures are expected to result in among other things, the reduction of Lesotho’s huge public wage bill, described by the IMF as “one of the largest in the world compared to the size of the economy”.

The IMF has also demanded that the government embarks on cost-cutting initiatives that will enable savings from the reduction on trips by government officials as well as reforms to ensure efficient public finance management.

The IMF demands are however, inimical to the interests of the country’s restive civil servants who are demanding the government to unconditionally award them salary increments to cushion them against the price increases for most goods and services including food, transport, water and electricity tariffs.

Dr Majoro however, remains confident that the government, IMF and other development partners will eventually ink a deal for a comprehensive package to stabilise the economic and promote growth.

He recently told the Lesotho Times that in addition to the expected financial bailout, Lesotho would have to take additional, “strong actions” to stabilise the fiscal and macroeconomic conditions.

“The government made it clear in July 2017 and February 2018, in its budget speeches that Lesotho and neighbouring countries are undergoing economic downturns and will need to take strong actions to stabilise fiscal and macroeconomic conditions,” Dr Majoro said in an interview with this publication.

“These (strong actions) would include protracted austerity measures and…this might involve working with the IMF and other partners. We are in discussions with the fund (IMF) and other development partners to put together a fully funded adjustment programme.”

Two months ago, Dr Majoro told this publication that he was in discussions with the IMF and other partners “to put together a package of measures that would ease the current situation while protecting the vulnerable segments of population”.

“The type of support we are seeking is called foreign currency reserve support. It differs with project support in that it supports the financing of (foreign currency) reserves build-up as well as the budget and deficit.”

He however, did not disclose how much the government had asked for, saying the size of the bailout package would be determined by both parties during the talks.

The government-IMF negotiations are being held at a time when the country’s increasingly restive workforce has either struck or threatened to strike to force the government and other employers to award them salary increments that will cushion them against the increases in the prices of goods and services.

The month of August saw teachers across the country embark on a strike to force the government to address their long-standing demands for salary increments and better working conditions. Textile workers in Maseru and Maputsoe also went on violent strikes to press government to legislate a M2000 minimum wage.

Early this year, Dr Majoro announced a four percent salary increase for civil servants but the latter are far from content and they want another wage increment.

The IMF has however, told the government to implement tough fiscal measures to improve the economy.

Chief among these is the need for the government to reduce the high public wage bill, undertake public financial management reform as well as implement the multi-sector reforms that were recommended by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The IMF has also advised the government to award performance-based salary increments. The IMF prescriptions are inimical to the civil servants and other workers’ demands for wholesale wage increments.

The post Govt-IMF talks continue for financial bailout appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Mohalenyane Phakela

THE government is yet to decide whether or not it will renew Seaboard Overseas and Trading Group’s contract to operate Lesotho Flour Mills, five months after the American company applied for the renewal of its contract which expires in December this year.

This was revealed by Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro in a recent interview with the Lesotho Times.

Seaboard applied for a renewal of its licence in May this year but sources close to the developments have told the Lesotho Times that the government has been stalling because the American company has never declared profits and dividends since it bought a controlling stake in the Lesotho Flour Mills for US$10 million in 1998.

Despite its failure to make profits or declare dividends, Seaboard is seeking a new 10-year contract to continue as the investor in Lesotho Flour Mills.

Speaking to the Lesotho Times recently, Dr Majoro, said that negotiations were still ongoing with Seaboard over the renewal of their licence. He did not provide a timeframe for the conclusion of the negotiations.

“The government is studying its arrangements with Seaboard and other shareholders about Lesotho Flour Mills which is an entity incorporated in Lesotho in 1998,” Dr Majoro said, adding, “The outcome of our discussions and the future of Lesotho Flour Mills will be announced by the government in due course”.

In a previous interview with this publication soon after Seaboard had applied for the renewal of its licence, Dr Majoro said he told Seaboard officials that the government was only interested in a new deal that would guarantee profits.

“In my budget speech I complained about Econet, Avani and Lesotho Flour Mills. But I also indicated that Avani paid a dividend of M7 million. I’m happy to report that there is considerable cooperation with Avani. In fact, since the budget speech our cooperation with these three companies has improved considerably.

“They (companies) can come to my office to negotiate but we have a very clear policy that they are in business for profit and we want to see profit.

“I had a meeting with Lesotho Flour Mills together with the shareholder representatives, namely the finance, agriculture and trade ministers. We explained to Seaboard the simple concept, saying, ‘gentlemen we are in business for profit and if you are in business for charity you are not the partner that we want’.

“The conclusion of our discussions was that the issues that the government side is raising are important and they need to be looked at.

“We are proving leadership to Lesotho Flour Mills and before we discuss a renewal of their contract, the important thing is to reset Lesotho Flour Mills on a business footing where it will make a profit,” Dr Majoro said.

Agriculture minister Mahala Molapo recently weighed in on the Lesotho Flour Mills issue, telling this publication that there were several factors that needed to be considered including its capacity to create a market for local farmers before Seaboard’s contract could be renewed.

“We have been in several meetings with Seaboard about the renewal of their contract and there are factors which need to be considered. Most importantly, Lesotho Flour Mills buys maize and wheat directly from local farmers at international prices and it also employs more than 250 Basotho.

“They (Seaboard) explained that they had not made profits due to the fact that they were competing with foreign brands which had flooded the country. They also explained that they had spent a lot of money to revamp the mill.”

Mr Molapo also aid the government was considering measures that would help protect Lesotho Flour Mills from cheaper imports.

“The government is currently working on regulating maize meal and flour which are imported from outside the country, maybe to increase their tariffs or make stricter conditions for their importation,” Mr Molapo said.

Meanwhile, Dr Majoro also revealed that the government was working on measures to transfer some of its shares in companies to the public through the Maseru Securities Market.

“Government is committed to increasing Basotho’s involvement in the private sector and transferring shares in state-owned enterprises to them is an irreversible priority.

“We are considering passing some of the shares in companies held by the government directly to Basotho through the Maseru Securities Market. We are in the process of crafting such measures and we will announce when this process comes to fruition,” Dr Majoro said.

The post Govt drags feet over Lesotho Flour Mills appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Pascalinah Kabi

PRIME Minister Thomas Thabane allegedly went back on his earlier decision to recommend the appointment of South African-born judge, Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, as the acting Court of Appeal President because he felt she was conflicted due to her previous working relationship with former Court of Appeal President Kananelo Mosito.

This was revealed in correspondences between Dr Thabane and Justice Mokgoro which were seen this week by the Lesotho Times.

Justice Mokgoro sits on the Court of Appeal. Her alleged abortive appointment as Acting President of the Court of Appeal first came to light when three prominent lawyers successfully challenged the 20 March 2018 appointment of Justice ‘Maseshophe Hlajoane as acting President of the Court of Appeal.

In February this year, King’s Counsels Motiea Teele, Zwelakhe Mda, Karabo Mohau and Attorney Qhalehang Letsika successfully challenged the reappointment of Justice Mosito to head the Court of Appeal. They successfully argued that Justice Mosito had previously been impeached for misconduct and the Constitutional Court upheld their appeal, saying that Justice Mosito “is not a fit and proper person” for the top job.

The court papers show that following the Justice Mosito setback, the government immediately moved to appoint Justice Mokgoro as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal on 27 February 2018.

However, the court papers further indicate that Dr Thabane advised His Majesty King Letsie III to replace Justice Mokgoro with Justice Hlajoane with effect from 20 March 2018.

It was on this basis that the trio of KC Mda, KC Mohau and Attorney Letsika once again petitioned the Constitutional Court to have the ‘removal’ of Justice Mokgoro reversed and her replacement with Justice Hlajoane declared null and void.

The fact that both Dr Thabane and Justice Mokgoro acknowledge in the correspondences that the latter was ultimately not appointed to the post could mean that the lawyers’ challenge of Justice Hlajoane’s appointment was based on the presumption of Justice Mokgoro’s appointment which never happened in the first place.

The lawyers argued that the appointment of Justice Hlajoane, who is currently serving as a senior judge in the High Court, is unconstitutional as it violates provisions stating that an incumbent (in this case Justice Mokgoro) can only be removed after a tribunal has been set up and recommended the removal.

They cited Justice Hlajoane, Dr Thabane, the Minister of Law and Constitutional Affairs, Lebohang Hlaele, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Mokhele Moletsane, Attorney General King’s Counsel Haae Phoofolo, Justice Mokgoro and His Majesty the King as first to seventh respondents respectively.

The government argued that the lawyers based their court challenge on a government gazette they had illegally obtained because it was never made public.

Up until now, it was not clear why the government went back on its decision to appoint Justice Mokgoro but correspondences between Dr Thabane and Justice Mokgoro seen this week by this publication have lifted the lid on the issue.

In the letters, Dr Thabane acknowledges Justice Mokgoro’s decision to recuse herself from sitting in the bench of the Court of Appeal to hear the case which Justice Mosito had lodged with the court seeking to overturn a judgement against his reappointment to head the apex court.

Dr Thabane accepted Justice Mokgoro’s argument that she could not be part of the Court of Appeal bench in the Mosito appeal because she was first recruited to the Court of Appeal on the recommendation of Dr Mosito.

Dr Thabane further acknowledged that in the same vein, Justice Mokgoro cannot and should not be Acting Court of Appeal president because the issue of conflict of interest would still arise.

This is due to the fact that among her duties as Acting Court of Appeal president, Justice Mokgoro would have to convene the apex court to hear Justice Mosito’s appeal against the Constitutional Court ruling against his reinstatement to the Court of Appeal.

The correspondence between Dr Thabane and Justice Mokgoro shows that before the termination of her appointment as Acting Court of Appeal president, Justice Mokgoro had already decided on a bench of Justices Hlajoane, Kriegler, Shongwe, Van de Westhuizen and Cachalia to hear Dr Mosito’s appeal.

Dr Thabane subsequently appointed Justice Hlajoane as Acting Court of Appeal president- a decision that was successfully challenged by King’s Counsels Mohau, Tele, Mda and Attorney Letsika.

Prior to the lawyers’ court challenge, Dr Thabane had written to Justice Mokgoro explaining that he would not proceed to advise King Letsie III to appoint her acting president because she had already indicated that there was a potential conflict of interest with regards to issues concerning Justice Mosito.

In a letter dated 7 March 2018, Dr Thabane said his take was that Justice Mokgoro recused herself because she was brought into the Court of Appeal bench in Lesotho on the recommendation of Dr Mosito.

Dr Thabane also clarified that he had not recommended her appointment but he had only written to her to obtain her consent before he could do so.

“You did well by recusing yourself. However, there is a further aspect of this issue which has attracted my attention. It is that since you recused yourself from hearing the matter, it would have been in order that you also declined the invitation to be appointed as an acting president of the court on the same principle (of conflict of interest) so that the government should have not expected you to convene the court for that purpose…It would have been improper to have you appointed to act as president of the court.

“Furthermore, I realise that you have interpreted my first letter to you as an appointment letter. I regret to inform you that while I had enquired from you whether you would have a problem with serving and requested you for your consent to serve as the acting president of the court, the appointment process has not gone through until now…,” Dr Thabane stated in his March letter to Justice Mokgoro.

In her reply on 13 March, Justice Mokgoro accepted Dr Thabane’s argument as to why she could not be recommended for the post of acting president of the appeal court.

“Although I had proactively proceeded with the process of operationalising the appeal court due to the urgency impressed upon me to hear the urgent matter (of Justice Mosito) when I was approached, I certainly appreciate that the acting appointment had then and has now not been effected.

“I would therefore under the circumstances…withdraw my availability to serve as acting president of the appeal court. I have already halted any further proactive work to convene a bench to hear the urgent matter and further operationalise the appeal court for the April session,” Justice Mokgoro wrote.

The post Why Thabane stopped Justice Mokgoro appointment appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Pascalinah Kabi

FORMER president of the Court of Appeal Kananelo Mosito’s long-awaited appeal against Constitutional Court judgement against his reinstatement to the position ruling will finally be heard not later than the 29th of this month.

This follows a ruling on Tuesday by the Court of Appeal judge Moses Chinhengo that the case should be set and heard not later than 20 days from the 2^nd of October this year. Justice Chinhengo delivered the ruling after the Law Society of Lesotho had petitioned the apex court for an order that the case be set and heard within 14 days.

Dr Mosito, Prime Minister, Minister of Law and Constitutional Affairs, Minister of Justice and Correctional Service, Attorney General, His Majesty, Attorney Qhalehang Letsika, Advocates Karabo Mohau, Motiea Tele and Zwelakhe Mda and the Registrar of the High Court and Court of Appeal were cited as 1st to 11th respondents respectively in the Law Society’s petition.

Justice Mosito was first appointed to the top job by Dr Thomas Thabane during his first tenure as Prime Minister in January 2015. He was re-appointed to the same post on 1 August 2017 after Dr Thabane returned to power in the aftermath of the June 2017 snap national elections.

His re-appointment came after he had been forced to resign in the wake of the establishment of a tribunal in 2016 by former Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, to determine his fitness to hold office over allegations that he had evaded paying taxes.

The tribunal had recommended his impeachment, finding that he had indeed failed to honour his tax obligations and he had acted unlawfully in investigating his fellow judges to establish if they had also paid their taxes as he sought information to advance his cause.

On 13 February this year, his re-appointment was declared null and void by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that he “is not a fit and proper person” for the sumptuous job because he had been impeached by the tribunal.

The February ruling followed a court application by four lawyers, namely, King’s Counsel Motiea Teele, Zwelakhe Mda, Karabo Mohau and Attorney Qhalehang Letsika.

However, Justice Mosito did not take the decision lying down and on 19 February, he and his co-respondents, including Dr Thabane lodged a notice of appeal before the Court of Appeal.

In his appeal notice, Justice Mosito argue that the Constitutional Court erred and misdirected itself in finding for the four lawyers.

Among other things, Justice Mosito argues that the Constitutional Court was wrong to conclude that the tribunal had found him unfit to hold office.

He argues that the tribunal’s findings were of no consequence as they were made after he had already resigned his position as Court of Appeal President on 13 December 2016.

“The first appellant’s (Justice Mosito) resignation became effective as at 16:02 hours on 13 December 2016 and there was no way he could be removed ten days later after he had resigned from that position,” Justice Mosito argues.

“The court ought to have held that the enquiry had been rendered otiose (serving no practical purpose) by such resignation, thereby rendering the last lap of the attempted impeachment frustrated.”

Justice Mosito further argues that the four lawyers had no right to file their application against his re-appointment “either on behalf of the general public or anyone else”.

But up until the Tuesday ruling by Justice Chinhengo, it was not clear when the appeal will be heard as there were no judges who have been appointed to preside over the case.

However, the Court of Appeal will soon hear Justice Mosito’s appeal after Justice Chinhengo on Tuesday ordered that the Acting Registrar of the High Court and Court of Appeal, Pontso Phafoli, should make all logistical arrangements for Dr Mosito’s appeal case to be heard within 20 court days from 2 October this year.

Although the Law Society of Lesotho wanted the matter to be heard and decided within 14 days, Justice Chinhengo said this was not a realistic timeframe for all the necessary arrangements for the Court of Appeal to sit.

The Zimbabwean-born judge said 20 days was a more realistic timeframe for the case to be set down and heard, adding the sooner this was done, the better it would be.

“Accordingly, my order is that the Registrar shall set down for hearing the appeal…within 20 court days, invite or request the judges of the Court of Appeal to avail themselves for hearing the matter and make all other necessary arrangements for the hearing of the appeal within that time period,” Justice Chinhengo ruled.

The controversy surrounding the appointment of the Court of Appeal President did not stop with Justice Mosito. Soon after their success against Justice Mosito, three of the four lawyers again filed another application to stop the swearing-in of Justice ‘Maseshophe Hlajoane as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal.

Justice Hlajoane was appointed on 20 March this year and this followed the termination of the appointment of Justice Yvonne Mokgoro who had initially been appointed to the position in an acting capacity on 27 February 2018.

The net effect of the lawyers’ appeals against Justice Mosito and Justice Hlajoane’s appointments is to further delay the sitting of the Court of Appeal with a direct impact on the administration of justice in Lesotho since it is the highest court in the land.

According to well-placed sources, dozens of cases from the High Court and the Commercial Division of the High Court await hearing in the Court of Appeal.

Commenting on the paralysis in the judiciary on Tuesday, Justice Chinhengo said it was common cause that the Court of Appeal had not sat since April 2017.

He further said that from the evidence before him, it was apparent that all parties involved in the matter shared at least one common desire that the court should resume its operations and hear all the appeals that have built up since April 2017.

He however, said the aim of the Law Society of Lesotho’s application was for Justice Mosito’s appeal to be heard as the verdict would crucially resolve the issue of whether or not Justice Mosito would be reinstated as president of the Court of Appeal.

He added that the Law Society of Lesotho acted on the belief that a decision on Justice Mosito’s appeal will pave the way for the Court of Appeal to resume its sittings and thus clear the backlog of cases before it.

“With a shared desire and understanding that the court should resume its work, it is curious that the parties have failed to agree on how their common desire can be achieved.

“Some legal game is being played here…more by the respondents than the applicants…The situation regarding the presidency of the Court of Appeal today, and at least since May 2017, is that whoever was appointed as President or Acting President…has for one reason or another been unable to exercise the functions of that office and obstacles have appeared in his or her way.

“The stark reality is that currently there is no one exercising the functions of the office of president of the Court of Appeal. There are other cases pending determination in the Court of Appeal.

“This application provides one of the routes to resolving this sad state of affairs,” Justice Chinhengo said on Tuesday.

The post Lifeline for Justice Mosito  appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Keiso Mohloboli

TWENTY-FOUR years on, the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) still refuses to compensate the family of ’Mateboho Ratšoane of Mohale’s Hoek who was electrocuted after coming into contact with a faulty LEC electricity pole in December 1994.

The parastatal only gave Ms Ratšoane’s children, Rethabile (31) and Khosi Mafura (28) the same electrical pole that killed their mother for use in making fire during their mother’s funeral.

The MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism recently discovered that despite numerous recommendations by the Ombudsman, LEC had stood grounds it was not responsible for the death of Ms Ratšoane (née Nkhathatseng Mafura).

Ms Ratšoane was electrocuted when she came into contact with electricity current from the pole and died on the spot in December 1994.

The pole had fallen close to a path which Ms Ratšoane used and she was electrocuted by the live current which flowed from it after heavy rains that had hit the Ha-Maphohloane community in Mohale’s Hoek a few days before the fateful day.

Ms Ratšoane had been in the company of some children who escaped unscathed but had to suffer the trauma of witnessing her meet her tragic end.

The Centre has learnt from documented evidence at the office of Ombudsman that two days before Ms Ratšoane’s death, fellow villagers had reported to LEC in Mohale’s Hoek that the fallen pole posed a great danger to lives and asked the parastatal to remove it. However, their warning went unheeded, with tragic consequences.

The company argues in its correspondence with Ombudsman that the fateful incident was an “act of God, and any claim would be nothing but enrichment attempt which LEC can unfortunately not entertain.”

In an interview with the Centre this week, the LEC risk manager, Matšeliso Moremoholo, said the company’s compensation policy had a clause on public liability, “which caters for incidents whereby consumer’s property has been electrocuted or damaged as a result of power problems”.

The same clause, Ms Moremoholo said, also covered claims of persons who were electrocuted.

“All claims regarding damaged property and electrocuted people are supposed to be registered with the company. The LEC then makes its own investigations before any compensation is made,” Ms Moremoholo said.

Ms Moremoholo said with respect to Ms Ratšoane’s case, no decision had been made. She said the Ombudsman’s determination was submitted to the LEC management who in turn presented the claims before the company’s board of directors.

“The matter had since been referred to the board. It has not been finalised as it awaits the board’s decision,” she said.

Meanwhile, the evidence from Ombudsman shows that during the funeral, the LEC representatives who joined mourners pledged to the grieving family that the company would take care of the school needs for the deceased’s children, Rethabile and Khosi, who were then only seven and four years old respectively.

But this did not happen, the Ombudsman heard.

Fifteen years later in 2008, Rethabile reported the LEC’s negligence and injustice to her family to the Ombudsman.

She explained that even though she was still young at the time of her mother’s death, she vividly remembered that the LEC staff at the funeral had promised that the family would be compensated and their school needs would be paid for by the company.

In the LEC’s letter of response to Ombudsman dated May 27 2018, the company’s corporate services manager, only identified in the documents as Mr Jimson, noted among other things that circumstances surrounding Ms Ratšoane’s death may not to have been reported with the company’s insurance.

However, Jimson noted that “the LEC will investigate the matter and will include in its investigations the complainant’s maternal and step father’s families with the hope that something tangible will be found”.

Outlining the company’s investigations in a document titled ‘Maphohloane Report,’ the LEC stated that: “In December 1994, a storm or strong winds damaged LEC power lines which led to fatal electrocution of Mrs Ratšoane née Ms Nkhathatseng”.

“Enquiries have been made as to whether an ex-gratia payment or not and that no person either at LEC or Ratšoane family have clearly showed no interest in the issue. This suggested that some mutual understanding was reached between the deceased’s family and LEC.”

The LEC cites the strong attendance of its staff members at the funeral as an indication that a form of mutual understanding between the company and the deceased’s family was reached.

The report however, refutes Rethabile’s claims saying no negligence could be attributable to the LEC.

The company says from its legal stand point, “no legal claim can arise as what happened to the deceased was a clear indication of force majeure (an act of God)”.

It therefore argues “further that any claim would be nothing but an enrichment attempt which LEC can unfortunately not entertain”.

The Maphohloane report has highlighted the following findings:

• It was obvious Ms Mafura was electrocuted.
• Two LEC staff members also advised that they clearly remembered there was once such a case but knew nothing further. These are Mr Kaile who was working in Mohale’s Hoek and Mr Molise who is still working in Mohale’s Hoek.
• No claim seems to have been made as nothing could be traced regarding this case and consequently no compensation seems to have been made.
• The cause of death was live line which was destroyed by strong winds and this does not seem to have been due to negligence on the part of LEC.
• Nobody seems to care whether compensation was made or can be made. This was obvious at the meeting where Ratšoane family unanimously agreed that Ms Rethabile Mafura should pursue the matter and that LEC should continue to communicate everything related to this case to her.
• It was expected that the Ratšoane family will be the one demanding compensation but this is not the case. Not a single member of this family attended the meeting. Legally this is not right.”
• The Ombudsman responded to the LEC’s communication where they advanced reasons for denying liability as belated submission and stated that the LEC’s findings (on the electrocution) were not satisfactory.

During the inquiry, the Ombudsman had advised LEC to peruse their files and check whether any claim had ever been made. On 17 February 2011, the LEC reported to Ombudsman that there was no trace of any claim made.

In one of the meetings between the LEC and the Ombudsman on 17 October 2011, the company offered a once-off payment of M10 000 to Ms Ratšoane’s children.

The company claimed that it was not liable for the electrocution of Ms Mafura but “being a decent corporate organisation” it could only pay M10 000 in compensation to Rethabile and her brother Khosi.

In 2011 Rethabile was attending school outside the country when she communicated with the Ombudsman through an email.

In this email and throughout the investigations, she has been consistent that she and Khosi have been painfully affected by the ordeal of their mother. The situation was aggravated by the fact that after their mother’s death, their grandmother did not have any means of providing for them and therefore they suffered.

At some point the Ombudsman resolved to seek parliament’s intervention to end the standoff.

In the “Special Report to Parliament by the Ombudsman” tabled in the National Assembly on 31 August 2018, the Ombudsman clearly stated that the electricity pole bearing live electricity that killed Ms Mafura belonged to the LEC.

The Ombudsman therefore settled that the power pole bearing live electricity belonged to LEC “notwithstanding that nature brought it down.”

In the report, the Ombudsman concluded that the deceased’s children suffered loss “caused by the wrongful act of the LEC in 1994”.

He further stated that because both children depended on their mother for support and maintenance, “whoever caused her death is liable to compensate them for that loss throughout their minority status”.

The report indicates that unlike Rethabile who went as far as tertiary education by doing some domestic work to pay for her fees until she got sponsorship, her brother Khosi had to drop out at Form B due to financial constraints.

The Ombudsman therefore recommended in 2014 that LEC should compensate the siblings to the total sum of M392 000 in respect of the loss of upbringing and care is based on average household expenditure.

Since 22 April 2014 when the Ombudsman gave LEC ultimatum to have compensated Rethabile and within seven months, the LEC has remained silent until the matter was tabled before the National Assembly on 31 August 2018 for intervention.

“It would seem it was an undisputed fact that the company did nothing about the pole to eliminate the source of danger, therefore they cannot deny liability.

“What I saw from Rethabile’s letter of complaint and LEC records availed to my office is that the pole lay for more than two days after the storm ‘when God made it fall,” the Ombudsman states.

According to ‘Maphohloane report, community members mentioned that the same LEC pole had on the previous night injured another person before it caused Ms Ratsoane’s death.

The report specified that LEC made no reaction to Rethabile’s complaints until 22 June 2012 when an investigator from the Ombudsman office was told by the LEC to advise Rethabile and her brother Khosi to make a claim so that LEC could reconsider the ex-gratia (M10 000) it had offered before.

The report further notes that there was no movement on the issue until 2 May 2013 when the former LEC managing director Mbele Hoohlo personally delivered the letter to the office of the Ombudsman indicating an increase of M10 000 to make the ex-gratia compensation offer M20 000.

Mr Hoohlo claimed that LEC offered M20 000 as compensation to both the deceased’s children because the LEC did not have the financial muscle to make any further adjustments and that the company was only compensating out of compassion.

“I feel that M20 000 is mockery considering me and my brother’s loss,” Rethabile said in the report when responding to the revised LEC offer which she refused to accept.

According to the Ombudsman, there is absolutely no reason for the LEC to hide behind the Mafura and Ratšoane families’ lack of interest in demanding compensation.

He went on to explain that he does not see where the interests of Mafura and Ratšoane have to do with the interests of the deceased’s children.

“If it is a legal interest to demand compensation, a failure by any of the said families to do so, does not bar Rethabile, the complainant in this matter to demand compensation.”

Meanwhile a Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA) representative, Shoao Khatala, told the MNNCIJ that the Lesotho Electricity Authority Act of 2002 doesn’t cover issues of compensation.

“We don’t have powers to measure damage. The LEC has an internal compensation policy and it would be in a better position to discuss the processes taken for the company to compensate in cases of negligence,” Mr Khatala said.

The post LEC defies Ombudsman over ‘negligence’ claim appeared first on Lesotho Times.

Herbert Moyo

LIQHOBONG Diamond Mine has recovered 835 832 carats of diamonds in its first full year of production, the company’s majority shareholder Firestone Diamonds has said.

The figure represents a 128 percent increase from the 365 891 carats that the mine achieved in the previous financial year which ended on 30 June 2017.

The company also sold 831 637 carats of diamonds during the financial year ended 30 June 2018 and this represented a 168 percent increase from the 310 376 carats sold during the year ended 30 June 2017.

The full-scale production enabled the mine to increase its revenue to US$62, 2 million from the US$27, 8 million in 2017. This represented a 125 percent growth in revenue.

“The first full year of production was characterised by exceptional operational performance (which included) a 128 percent increase in diamonds recovered to 835 832 carats compared to 365 891 carats in 2017,” Firestone Diamonds said in a recent statement to the Lesotho Times.

“The largest diamond recovered to date was a 134-carat gem-quality light yellow diamond and the most valuable diamond recovered, as measured by US dollars per carat, was a fancy pink diamond which sold for US$112 781 per carat.

“There was a 93 percent increase in ore tonnes treated to 3, 8 million tonnes from 1, 97 million tonnes in 2017.”

Commenting on the results, Firestone chief executive officer Paul Bosma described the 2018 financial year as “an eventful one, marking the company’s first full year as a diamond producer at Liqhobong”.

“Having concluded a US$25 million fundraising at the end of December 2017 and restructuring our ABSA debt facility, we entered the second half of the financial year on a much stronger financial footing. We had an exceptional final quarter from an operational perspective, and I am pleased to say that this trend has continued into the 2019 financial year.

“From a market perspective, we have seen further evidence of subdued pricing for smaller, lower quality goods at the most recent diamond sales putting pressure on overall dollar per carat. However, the demand for larger, better quality stones remain strong. The overall supply-demand dynamics in the natural diamond market remain favourable in the short to medium term with no new sources of supply on the horizon and the major producers carrying minimal stock and operating close to full capacity. This bodes well for Liqhobong which is only just starting its journey,” Mr Bosma said.

The following were the major highlights of the mine’s first full year of production:

• Revenue increased by 125 percent to US$62, 2 million (up from US$27, 8 million in 2017).
• Loss for the year decreased by 91 percent to US$14, 2 million (from US$151, 7 million in 2017).
• Cash balance of US$18, 4 million (up from US$17, 1 million in 2017).
• Successful US$25 million equity raised in December 2017.
• Successful restructuring of the US$82, 4 million ABSA Debt Facility with a capital repayment grace period until 30 June 2019.

Firestone is a United Kingdom-based company, which trades on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It has 75 percent shares in the Liqhobong Mine and the remaining 25 percent stake is held by the government.

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Limpho Sello

THE minister of Social Development, ‘Matebatso Doti, has condemned the violent killings and abuse of older persons around the country.

Ms Doti expressed her disgruntlement at the recently held International Day of Older Persons commemorations in Thaba-Tseka where she appealed to the public to care for and protect older people.

She said older persons are champions of human rights which the younger generations are enjoying hence they should be protected as opposed to being killed and abused by their own children.

Ms Doti’s statements come on the back of the brutal killing of an 83-year-old woman supposedly for ritual purposes in the Mafeteng district. ‘Masefali Mporoane, of Malealea, was found dead by her nephew Molikeng Mporoane in the morning of 16 September 2018.

Ms Mporoane was killed a fortnight before the world commemorates the International Day of Older Persons which is celebrated annually on 1 October.

This year’s commemoration will focus on celebrating older persons as pioneers of human rights under the theme ‘Celebrating Older Human Rights Champions’.

Ms Doti said communities have to come together and fight for the wellbeing of older people.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to care and protect older persons in society and it is time we fight hard for their well-being since they brought us up and fought for our rights,” Ms Doti said.

“We appeal to the youth to stop the abuse of older persons in society.”

Ms Doti said her ministry is working hard to educate the public about the sicknesses that come with old age to ensure that older persons are well taken care of.

“Ill health also puts older persons at the risk of abuse and killings. We have also heard cases where some are accused of witchcraft and are murdered and that is wrong.”

For her part, Tsebo Lerotholi, pleaded with the society to protect older persons and urged the communities to exercise extreme patience when dealing with older people.

She said it was also shocking that in some communities, older persons are targeted by criminals because of the M700 grants which they receive from the government monthly. She said some have been murdered for such money.

“We need to be protected against such evil deeds. We also need protection when we draw our wills,” Ms Lerotholi said.

Ms Lerotholi said it was also important chiefs and councilors to get training on the challenges that the elderly face so that they in turn teach their communities.

“Such training will be helpful because the community will now understand us better and they will appreciate instead of labelling us witches,” Ms Lerotholi said.

The gruesome murder of Ms Mporoane is the latest in the long series of violence and killings of women and children which continue to taint the history of this country.

On 23 July this year, five women were murdered in cold blood in the Ha-Mokauli village, some 25 kilometres south of the capital, Maseru.

At about 6pm on that fateful evening, the sound of gunfire sent the villagers scurrying for cover behind and below anything that could shelter them.

The loud gunshots lasted for about 30 minutes and thereafter there was an eerie silence. When the shocked villagers finally came out of their hiding places, they were met with the gruesome sight of the five bodies of women who had been gunned down in their own homes. Another woman was writhing in pain together with a two-year-old toddler who had a bullet lodged in her arm.

The gunmen had already disappeared without a trace, leaving no explanation for the trail of corpses, blood, orphaned children and broken-hearted families.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli recently said that no arrests have been made in connection with the murders and the police were still following the leads to find the killers.

In January this year, the Ntširele community in Khubetsoana, Maseru was shocked by the brutal murder of prominent businesswoman ‘Mathabang Radiile (53), allegedly by her live-in partner, Lebohang Nkuebe (41).

Ms Radiile’s four months old grand-daughter was seriously injured after being sprayed with acid in one of the most gruesome cases of women and child abuse in Lesotho.

Mr Nkuebe subsequently appeared in court over the murder and the case is still on-going.

Last year, there were several cases of the killings of women and children that were reported. The violence and killings are part of wider global scourge which the World Bank says affects one in every three women.

In April this year, the World Bank published an article which showed that globally, as many as 38 percent of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.

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