Indaba to seal Sekata’s fate flops

MASERU – A meeting called by the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)’s national executive committee to decide secretary general Teboho Sekata’s fate did not proceed due to a lack of quorum.

Sources in the LCD said party leader Mothetjoa Metsing had intended to use the Monday meeting to propose the suspension of Sekata ahead of an elective conference scheduled for this weekend.

Bizarrely, both Metsing and Sekata were not at the scheduled meeting, which forced the NEC to abort the indaba.

The LCD spokesman, Apesi Ratšele, told thepost yesterday that the meeting had to be postponed because it could not form a quorum.

“We are yet to have another meeting to decide on what has to be done,” Ratšele said.

In his letter to Sekata, Metsing said he had decided to approach the national executive committee following his earlier letter seeking Sekata to give reasons why he could not suspend him.

Metsing said he needed the executive committee’s blessings to suspend Sekata, after his High Court challenge that he did not have powers to suspend him in terms of the LCD constitution.

A defiant Sekata however told thepost this week that nothing had changed and was still going to contest for the post of party deputy leader.

“I received the letter from the party leader saying they are going to suspend me, but I am still a member and I will go to the conference,” Sekata said.

“I am not moved by the (intention of) suspension as it was something that everyone saw coming,” he said.

The former ruling party is split into two rival factions with one backing Sekata while the other is rallying behind Metsing.

Sekata is vying to take over the deputy leader’s position from Tšeliso Mokhosi, a Metsing loyalist.

Yesterday, the Sekata-led faction wrote a letter to the party demanding transparency at the elective conference.

The faction said for the first time in the party’s history, “we have never received such an embarrassing election outcome as it happened in 2022 under the current leadership”.

“There was no political will from the party’s NEC and the party’s Members of Parliament in preparing for the 2022 general elections,” the letter reads in part.

The Sekata faction added that unlike before the party was the last to publish its manifesto going into the 2022 general elections.

“Under the NEC’s watch, the party was asleep until three weeks were left before elections and the campaigns only started,” it reads.

The faction complained that during the campaigns the constituencies did not receive even a cent to help the party leadership in their campaigns.

“There was no party regalia, no transport, no manifesto copies, no food and other resources to help with the campaigns.”

They wrote that for the first time, the party failed to compete in all the 80 constituencies.

“The leaders misuse party funds to the extent that there is no water at the party offices,” the letter reads.

It said Metsing’s name is associated with corruption “therefore his face is no more sellable to the voters”.

They added that they expect their NEC and the leader to be guided by principles and run the party in a transparent manner.

“We are aware that the leader has suspended the secretary general Teboho Sekata. The reason behind this is to avoid the tabling of the secretary general’s report,” the letter reads.

“The fear is that the secretary will report about the M300 000 that went missing and the party vehicles that have disappeared.”

They stated that Metsing sometimes lashes out at party members to instill fear in them not to vote for Sekata and his supporters.

“It is now a norm that the party does not issue constituency reports during the national conferences. That practice is wrong.”

Nkheli Liphoto