Moorosi Tsiane
MOTLATSI Maqelepo, the suspended deputy leader of the Basotho Action Party (BAP), has challenged the decision by party leader, Professor (Prof) Nqosa Mahao, to replace him as the party’s deputy.
Last Saturday, Prof Mahao invoked what he described as a discretionary clause in the BAP constitution, empowering the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) to appoint a new deputy leader.
This effectively removed Mr Maqelepo from the position.
Irked by the decision Mr Maqelepo, together with another suspended BAP legislator, Tello Kibane, have filed an urgent constitutional application for an order declaring the BAP leader’s decision “unlawful and in violation of clause 13.2 of the BAP constitution”.
The application follows a letter dated May 3, 2025, wherein Prof Mahao informed Mr Maqelepo that he had been replaced as the party’s deputy leader by one Ralitapole Letsoela.
This after a Court of Appeal ruling on May 2, 2025, which essentially upheld Mr Maqelepo’s seven-year suspension by the BAP’s CEC.
Prof Mahao has since been actively pushing to oust both Mr Maqelepo and Mr Kibane from the party’s parliamentary caucus. The two were suspended from the BAP on January 7, 2025, for seven and five years respectively, for a number of alleged transgressions.
The respondents in Messrs Maqelepo and Kibane’s latest case are the BAP, Prof Mahao, Mr Ralitapole, and the BAP CEC.
“…We are seeking urgent relief to vindicate our constitutional and political rights, which have been unlawfully curtailed by the BAP’s 7 and 5-year suspensions against us imposed through a disciplinary process marred by procedural irregularities, bias and abuse of power.
“The decision to suspend us until January 2032, effectively bars us from participating in the 2027 National Elections and stripps us of our rights as party members and public representatives. The disciplinary process violated the BAP Constitutional guarantees of fairness (clause 13.5) suppressed legitimate dissent and was orchestrated by CEC dominated by loyalists of the BAP President who has systematically and calculatedly side-lined critics,” Mr Maqelepo states in his affidavit.
Mr Maqelepo has asked the court to declare the suspension of himself and his replacement with Mr Ralitapole as unlawful and in violation of Clause 13.2 of the BAP Constitution.
Specifically, he is seeking a declaratory order that the suspension on May 3, 2025, and his subsequent replacement on May 5, 2025, are unconstitutional, as they violate the BAP Constitution’s provisions on disciplinary proceedings (Clause 13.2) as well as his constitutional rights to freedom of expression (Section 14.1) and political participation (Section 16.1) under the Lesotho Constitution of 1993.
Additionally, Mr Maqelepo is requesting the court to order Professor Mahao to reinstate him as the BAP deputy-leader and member, in accordance with Clause 5.1.1 of the BAP Constitution and Article 25(b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
He also wants the court to direct Professor Mahao to call a special national conference within 30 days “to resolve the disputes democratically”, ensuring compliance with Section 16(1) of the Lesotho Constitution and Article 13 of the Banjul Charter.
Messrs Maqelepo and Kibane are among the four BAP legislators who have strongly opposed Prof Mahao’s attempts to withdraw the BAP from Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s coalition government. This followed Prof Mahao’s dismissal as the Minister of Energy in November 2024.
Prof Mahao had joined Mr Matekane’s government in November 2023 to help the latter avert an opposition no-confidence vote.
However, he later fell out with not only Mr Matekane but also the majority of his own party’s six MPs. Currently, Prof Mahao enjoys the support of only one BAP MP, ‘Mannyaneso Taole.
Meanwhile, on Friday Speaker of the Parliament, Tlohang Sekhamane, dismissed a letter from the BAP CEC informing him that Prof Mahao had been appointed as the new BAP parliamentary caucus chairperson, replacing Mr Kibane.
Earlier this week, Prof Mahao had written to Mr Sekhamane, informing him that the Appeal Court had ruled in his favour and that the two MPs “are no longer members of the BAP Parliamentary Caucus.”
Prof Mahao declared himself the new BAP caucus chairperson, with Ms Taole as his secretary.
However, after reviewing the letter, Mr Sekhamane rejected the request during Friday’s sitting of the august house stating, “…. The executive committee of the party cannot remove a member of parliament. The membership in parliament is independent of the party. The party cannot determine who should be the chairman or the secretary of the caucus. That is the prerogative of the caucus itself.”
Similarly, Mr Sekhamane dismissed another letter from the BAP informing him that the party was withdrawing from the government.
He said he needed to see correspondence from the BAP caucus, “not just a letter from individuals”.
“A political party cannot come to such a decision; the caucus is the only one that can decide on that. So, I need to see correspondence from the BAP caucus. Although the caucus is named after the party, it is part of the parliamentary structures, not of the political party. It belongs in parliament, not in a political party.”