Caswell Tlali
MASERU — The High Court on Thursday overturned Thesele ’Maseribane’s election as Basotho National Party (BNP) president and ordered that the troubled party holds a fresh elective conference.
The ruling is likely to throw the party into a new quandary and trigger fresh fights for the control of the former ruling party.
Justice ’Maseforo Mahase’s ruling comes after the party’s former secretary general Majara Molapo challenged ’Maseribane’s election as the BNP president in April.
Justice Mahase also ordered that the new elective conference be held within 60 days but said she will only give reasons for her judgment tomorrow.
The judge also ordered that the constituency committees that Molapo said had been unconstitutionally allowed as delegates into the April conference to elect the party leader should be re-elected so that only qualified people attend the new conference.
But on Friday ’Maseribane told the Sunday Express that Justice Mahase’s ruling was “wanting” in that it did not specify which constituency committees should be re-elected before the new conference.
“We expected that Majara (Molapo) would tell the judge which committees he was complaining about so that we could attend to that but he hasn’t,” ’Maseribane said.
“This has made the honourable judge’s order very wanting because now we don’t know which committees to correct,” he said.
’Maseribane said the party was prepared to comply with the order to call the elective conference but it will have a problem holding it within the stipulated 60 days.
“We do not have problems with that (calling the conference) but its timing will give us problems because it will be at a time when we are supposed to go for the local government elections.
“If the national executive committee will agree on Monday (tomorrow) when we meet, I suggest that we should go to the Court of Appeal.
“Preparing for the coming local government elections and conference to elect the party leader at the same time will not be to the benefit of the BNP,” ’Maseribane said.
He said holding constituency committee elections and selecting delegates for the elective conference would take much of the time they should be using to prepare for the local government elections.
The local government elections are due in September.
“We are not afraid to call the elective conference but not at this time when we are preparing for the local government elections,” he said.
’Maseribane also said it was odd that Justice Mahase had decided not to ask about efforts made towards Justice Monaphathi’s suggestion that they should get an intermediary to facilitate talks to settle out of court.
Justice Monaphathi had in April suggested that the parties should seek a mediator from local civic organisations if they felt that they could not do it on their own.
The BNP has been mired in controversy for years as its leaders fought for political supremacy.
A day before ’Maseribane was elected Molapo had filed an urgent application in the High Court challenging the constitutionality of the elective conference.
He was querying the composition of delegates who were to vote at the conference.
He also attacked the candidacies of ’Maseribane and Ranthomeng Matete, the BNP secretary general, arguing that as members of the national executive committee their participation in the election “violated the principles of natural justice”.
’Maseribane was the BNP acting president after the ouster of Major General Metsing Lekhanya in December last year while Matete was the secretary general.
Two judges, Justices ’Maseshophe Hlajoane and Tšeliso Monaphathi, on two different sittings declined to grant an order to interdict the conference.
Justice Monaphathi on the conference day said if the court would grant Molapo his wish the conference would be nullified.
After hearing arguments from both sides on whether the BNP national executive had indeed brought delegates who were constitutionally not qualified to enter the conference hall and vote, Justice Monaphathi gave the warring parties time to resolve their differences out of court.
But that process failed.
Molapo told the court that he did not have a problem with the court’s suggestions but the national executive committee had rejected his proposal for dialogue.
“I wrote the general secretary Chief Ranthomeng Matete many letters but he never responded,” he said then.
“I found myself having to bring this matter to court upon seeing that they were not prepared to hear me out.”
“Several constituency committees around the country were elected surreptitiously ahead of the conference to elect the party leader,” Molapo said in his affidavit.
He argued that the conference was unlawful because it had been filed by “surreptitiously elected” constituencies while the legitimate constituencies were barred from taking part.
“I have information which I verily believe to be true and correct that the same pattern of irregular invasions into constituencies has been the norm as irregular and unconstitutional committees have been imposed,” said Molapo in his affidavit.
“I aver that the coming annual conference and the election of the leader will be a flaw as most delegates will have been unconstitutionally and irregularly elected,” he had said.