- says he has not been attending Parliament as he cannot deal with “thieves”
- labels RFP, DC and ABC “corrupt”
Mohloai Mpesi
LEADER of the Socialist Revolutionaries (SR), Advocate Teboho Mojapela, has been suspended from Parliament for a week for bad behaviour.
Adv Mojapela had labelled the Revolution For Prosperity (RFP) led government as comprising of “corrupt vultures”, language that Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Tšepang Tšita-Mosena, deemed as “unparliamentary”.
Adv Mojapela becomes the first MP in the 11th?parliament to be suspended.
Alongside the RFP, Adv Mojapela had also attacked the opposition Democratic Congress and the All Basotho Convention (ABC) as “rotten and corrupt” over their activities in government before the RFP took over in 2022.
Adv Mojapela has since doubled down on his criticism of the RFP, since his suspension describing the party in an interview as being “rotten at the very core”.
Ms Tšita-Mosena issued the sanction against the Motete legislator on Thursday during the House’s question-and-answer session.
His case has since been referred to the Ethics Committee for further investigation and determination. The Committee may impose an additional penalty if it finds him guilty.
Mr Mojapela’s suspension followed a point of order intervention by ABC Proportional Representation Member of Parliament (MP), ’Malelaka Malakane, who alerted Ms Tšita-Mosena to Adv Mojapela’s remarks shortly before he (Mojapela) stormed out of the chamber waving his hands in the air.
She told the House that she heard him saying members of the opposition were corrupt individuals who had destroyed the country.
“He said corrupt individuals had destroyed the country along with the RFP (libolu tse senyelitseng naha le ma RFP). He was looking at this side. He said salang libolu makhoaba (remain you corrupt vultures). That’s what he said when he walked out of the door,” she said.
Furthermore, DC MP for Makhoroana constituency, Tšitso Cheba, also raised concerns that Adv Mojapela had publicly labelled the DC, RFP, and ABC as corrupt and rotten during a radio interview—remarks he argued were highly unparliamentary.
Mr Cheba also accused Adv Mojapela of violating parliamentary processes by speaking on radio about matters relating to the Natural Resources Committee before its report had been submitted to Parliament.
The portfolio committee had visited the Ha-Belo Electrification project site in Botha-Bothe and later inspected progress at the ongoing construction of the Polihali Dam. According to Mr Cheba, upon return, Adv Mojapela took to the airwaves alleging that the projects were riddled with corruption by the DC, ABC and RFP administrations.
Mr Cheba further charged that Adv Mojapela rarely attended Parliament but frequently “insults” other MPs on radio platforms.
“We came to Parliament many times—maybe for about six months—but Mr Mojapela never came to the sittings. What he does is insult us on radio stations, insinuating that we are squandering public money. He will not come here; he stays at his home in Ladybrand, South Africa.
“He (Mojapela) said this institution is nonsense and that what we do here is nonsense (institution ena ke bokatana fela),” said Mr Cheba.
He said MPs worked diligently to ensure quorum, respect parliamentary processes, and fulfil the mandate given to them by Basotho. But, he argued, Adv Mojapela’s conduct undermined the institution and tarnished their reputation.
Mr Cheba also claimed Adv Mojapela had only started attending sittings the previous week after “disappearing” for months. Even then he appeared to treat Parliament as a joke, yet faced no reprimand, the DC MP said.
He warned that continued lack of control over Adv Mojapela’s behaviour risked destabilising Lesotho’s political environment.
“We (the DC) are a registered political party under the Constitution of Lesotho. We cannot be treated like that by Ntate?Mojapela…… We cannot tolerate this going forward.”
In response, Ms Tšita-Mosena ruled that ?she was suspending Adv Mojapela for a week for misconduct.
She also ordered Mr Cheba to prepare the additional evidence proving Adv Mojapela’s alleged misconduct and submit it to the Ethics Committee.
Contacted for comment, Adv Mojapela accused RFP, DC and ABC of driving the country into poverty. He said he did not want to deal with corrupt MPs.
“Those people are rotten – they are rotten. Cheba is not a child who can stop me from telling them that they are rotten. I am still saying it now: they are rotten.”
He said the country’s poverty was a direct consequence of corrupt leadership over the years.
“This country is in poverty because we have been ruled by corrupt individuals, and they have groomed these newcomers of tenders who have always benefited from corruption. So, I don’t understand what the problem is. I don’t have stress at all. I don’t even go to that rotten Parliament. You will remember that I started going there a fortnight ago. But I realised there is no point in dealing with these rotten people who steal money.”
Asked about the radio interview in which he allegedly stated that the DC, RFP and ABC had destroyed the country because of the Ha Belo project, Adv Mojapela stood firm.
“It is true; it is not a lie. I was talking about the Ha Belo project where M129 million has been stolen. I don’t understand what Cheba wants from me,” he said.
“There is no one who doesn’t know that at Ha Belo, since 2020, M129 million has been paid, but there is absolutely nothing to show for it. Ask (Public Accounts Committee Chairperson) ‘Machabana (Lemphane-Letsie) or anyone who has been to that place.”
He added that if the issues date back to 2020, they fall under the ABC and DC administration as they were in power then while the RFP, in power since 2022, had worsened the situation.
“They (the RFP) are continuing to steal in the same manner,” he said.
Adv Mojapela is one of the MPs who seldom attend parliamentary sessions.
For her part, Ms T?ita-Mosena justified her suspension of Mr Mojapela saying the Standing Orders provided a clear direction on parliamentary procedures.? She had merely followed them in slapping Mr Mojapela with the suspension, she said.
“There are specific Standing Orders that determine what should happen in various situations. Where the Standing Orders are not clear, it becomes the Speaker’s discretion to provide guidance,” she explained.
Asked whether a similar incident had ever occurred, she said, “It happened in the 10th Parliament, although I have forgotten the specific case. But this is the first time it has happened in the 11th Parliament.”
She added that since the matter had already been referred to the Ethics Committee, she could not offer further comment.
“These issues have been passed to the Ethics Committee, so I don’t think it would be prudent for me to comment further,” she said.