Set clear departure time-table

THE dramatic events of the last two weeks have brought to the fore the glaring reality that Prime Minister Thomas Thabane has now lost total control of the ship of state.
In his place now stands a cabal of senior party officials led by First Lady ’Maesiah Thabane who is facing a serious charge of murder and is on the run.
That cabal is clearly now running the show.

The result, as we have seen over the last few weeks, has been total paralysis, with the coalition government at sixes and sevens as it battled to find a way to fix the crisis.
But this crisis, as we have mentioned before, was of Thabane’s own making. By seeking to fire Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli over what appear to be spurious charges, Thabane stirred the proverbial hornet’s nest.

He himself now stands accused not only of complicity but of having actively participated in the murder of his estranged wife, Lipolelo Thabane, in June 2017.
That charge alone was so serious that it became almost untenable for him to continue to serve as premier.
But while Thabane last week sensibly promised to step down, we think he should have issued a clear timetable of when he intends to leave office. By failing to come up with a clear timetable,

Thabane lost a golden opportunity to resign in dignity.
His failure to clearly state when he intends to step down has now plunged the whole country into a state of paralysis. What we are now left with is uncertainty over the direction the government is going.

His own coalition partners too now appear to have had enough and want him gone as soon as yesterday. This state of uncertainty is unhealthy for Lesotho.
Thabane appears to have now pushed himself into a corner. He now has very few options. With his wife on the run, he is now under tremendous pressure from both his party and the international community to step aside.

Some individuals within his divided party now believe Thabane has become a liability not just to the party but to the government. That is why they want him out.
The stunning revelations that there was a directive issued from State House to assassinate Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli is yet another indication that the wheels are off on the wagon of state.

That story seems to suggest that something has now gone terribly wrong with Thabane’s close advisers. We now seem to have a group that cannot see beyond their nose in terms of strategy and calculating political risk. They appear determined to kill to push a political agenda. That is extremely worrying.
Thabane’s failure to clearly state when he intends to step down has now fed widespread rumours that he in fact does not have any intentions to step down after all until he has settled two issues on his own terms.

It would appear Thabane clearly wants to ensure that he has a say in who succeeds him as premier. He would obviously want to have his own man in the Prime Minister’s office to ensure his own safety.

Secondly, it would appear Thabane is determined to ensure his wife is not hounded by the police over the Lipolelo murder.
Both strategies are however wrong.
He must step down to allow the law to take its natural course. He no longer has any leverage to push the two agendas.