Lesotho hysteria derails reforms

There is a tide that turns in men’s affairs and as expected it has turned to the worst in Lesotho politics, as always. The Government of Lesotho (GoL) worked diligently to ensure that the leader of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) Mothetjoa Metsing and others return from exile with stringent conditions. On the negotiations table, the government committed that charges against Metsing would not be pursued until the reform processes were over. In persuit of its agenda, the government ensured that there is a clause on an agreement that gives SADC power to take drastic measures against a party that may be seen to be delaying or distracting the smooth running of the reform process. At the time of the agreement, the spirit or rather intent of the clause was to deter Metsing, then in exile and his allies from playing hardball at the expense of national reforms. That pressure forced him to return to Lesotho and freely partake in the then inclusive process. Clause 10 of the agreement was challenged in court and the attention seeking government of Lesotho decided not to defend the agreement they made with SADC. The courts then annulled Clause 10. However, the judgement was not an order to proceed with the case rather a pronouncement on the legality of the clause. Now the tide has turned, Metsing showed commitment to seeing the reforms through and SADC extended the National Reforms Authority mandate ahead of next year’s general elections. The attention seeking government of Lesotho suddenly cartwheels with its state sponsored case by the Director of Public Prosecutions, flashing ‘the good old courts are independent card’. The prosecutor is by right an agent of the Executive arm of government. Boom!!! Treason, now!!! Yes Now!!! The question that should be asked is why now? The police, DPP and the court know how this case will affect the national reforms process. Judges are learned people who must be aware of their environment and must indeed ensure their judgements do not have negative impacts on national peace and security. Unless evidence on this treason case has an expiry date, or some authorities are desperate to see the leaders sentenced now while they still have political influence on some courts, there is no justification why this case should be prioritised, while sacrificing the reform process. It may appear that the authorities feel the alleged accused will not be tried as they would prefer under a reformed judiciary system hence they prefer the current system. Selective justice has never been justice and shall never be. It is ironic how the Executive through the DPP takes the case to court and then claim it cannot interfere with the courts. Who is fooling who? This surprise move is nothing but an attention seeking stunt by the government of Lesotho. “The SADC facilitation team is becoming increasingly concerned about the slow pace of the reforms process,” lambasted Retired Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke in his capacity as Leader of the SADC Facilitation Team to Lesotho on April 19, 2021. Moseneke further called on Lesotho to remember that an inordinate amount of resources both human and material have been committed to the reform process. He was referring to the resources that could have been utilised elsewhere if it were not for Lesotho’s attention-seeking stunts at awkward moments. The never-ending political turmoil in Lesotho continues to derail SADC’s focus from other areas of development and collaborations. Four months Later, August 18, 2021 the SADC summit commended progress made in the reform process and extended its mandate from October 30, 2021 to April 30, 2022. Yet four months later, the government of Lesotho pulled a stunt predicted a year ago by Moseneke. On December 6, 2021, Metsing and Mochoboroane were summoned to appear in court thereby attempting to erase almost the entire progress made in the reform process and setting up the National Reforms Authority to fail come the April 30, 2022 deadline. This stunt confirms Justice Mosemeke’s fears that “the reform process still faces many risks chief among these being the threat of arrest of political leaders and ongoing high-profile cases” as stated in his letter to SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Stergonomena L Tax exactly a year ago. The letter further warned “if these cases are proceeded with, they run the risk of undermining the most important principle of the reform process – “The inclusivity principle”. The official leader of opposition, Dr Monyane Moleleki, recently fired warning shots at Prime Minister Majoro warning against the timing of treason charges in a letter copied to several strategically positioned persons and institutions. The warning was mocked with possible intentional omission to copy those who were previously copied. The response again flashed the good old independent institutions card. If the official leader of the opposition gets such a response and the SADC agreement is ignored in broad daylight, what can ordinary citizens expect? The tiny mountain Kingdom is flexing its muscles at SADC. Treaties are what they are meant to be only if they are honoured. Following the 1998 political instability an agreement was reached to establish an Interim Political authority (IPA). The IPA was respected by the LCD government and parliament rubber-stamped drafts from the IPA to the letter. The result of that process saw many small parties laying foot in parliament. Had the LCD MPs revolted with the same good old independent institution card, that change of electoral model would not have seen the light of day. Many people in power today were nowhere near power in 1998 but today they are intentionally using the good old independent institution card to frustrate the national reforms. The government of Lesotho is directly calling on SADC to apply the clause that was intended to deter Metsing from playing hide and seek. When will SADC call Lesotho to order? Will SADC allow the reforms to continue without other political parties? The world is closely monitoring SADC’s handling of pressing regional challenges. Those include Lesotho’s endless self-made political instabilities, Eswatini, Mozambique military intervention as well as the Omicron variant which got a very unscientific response from the west. Potjo Potjo