Mohloai Mpesi
PRIME Minister Sam Matekane has suffered a bloody nose after two of his Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) legislators ditched the party to join Mathibeli Mokhothu’s opposition Democratic Congress (DC).
The duo of Rethabile Letlailana and Lephoi Makara, of Lithoteng and Malimong constituencies respectively, crossed the floor in parliament on Friday, to join the DC.
They told theSunday Expressshortly after crossing the floor that they had opted for the DC because it was a party that was “deeply rooted in democracy” and allowed its members to express themselves freely.
The RFP on the other hand had metamorphosed into a “dictatorship” of Matekane and his “small coterie” of “sycophantic” advisors.
Moorosi
However, RFP Secretary-General, Nthati Moorosi, has shot back at the two, telling this paper that her party’s leadership had tried to resolve whatever grievances they had raised but “it was clear that they had already made their decision to leave”.
While it was regrettable for any party to lose MPs, Ms Moorosi said their departure would not affect the RFP which remained a strong mass party.
Their departure from the RFP, comes a month after the National Independent Party (NIP)’s Lehlohonolo Mosoang, also dumped his party for the DC.
The defection has whittled the RFP’s seats down to 54, while the DC’s have increased to 29. Another RFP MP, Dr Mahali Phamotse had since left the party to form her own United Africans Transformation (UAT).
Messrs Letlailana and Makara had written to Speaker of the National Assembly, Tlohang Sekhamane, two similar letters dated Friday 31st May 2024, informing him that they would be crossing the floor to the DC. The letters were read out in the National Assembly on Friday morning, minutes before Messrs Letlailana and Makara officially crossed the floor.
“Dear Honourable Speaker, with this letter I hereby notify you that after taking a long time of pondering, I have decided to cross from RFP into DC. Therefore, I want to exercise this decision today on the 31st?of May 2024,” Mr Makara’s letter read.
Safe for now
Mr Matekane’s RFP now controls 54 seats, three less than what it won at the October 2022 polls. If it loses more MPs, Mr Matekane could potentially find himself in peril again after he survived a motion of no confidence hardly a year after taking office.
For now, he seems safe. His coalition controls 73 seats. In addition to the RFP’s 54, it has the Movement for Economic Change (MEC with four seats), Alliance of Democrats (AD – four seats), Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD- three seats), Basotho Action Party (BAP-six seats), HOPE (one seat) and the Baena-LPC Alliance (one seat).
The coalition could have been having 74 seats but the United for Change (UFC) ’s MP, Mohlominyane Tota, is no longer supporting Mr Matekane’s government contrary to his party’s directives.
Problem
The problem for Mr Matekane is that some of his key coalition partners like the BAP and AD are constantly at war with themselves. Their MPs are not always obedient to their leaders who are part of Mr Matekane’s cabinet.
They had supported the motion of no confidence that nearly toppled him in October last year. Before he co-opted the BAP in November 2023, its leader Professor Nqosa Mahao had become one of the Prime Minister’s fiercest critics. The BAP has ever since been torn with factionalism and it is not clear if all its MPs are still obedient to their leader, Prof Mahao who sits in Mr Matekane’s cabinet as energy minister. AD MPs likewise, especially former party leader, Monyake Moleleki, have been at odds with Mr Matekane’s coalition despite being officially part of it. Mr Moleleki has never made peace with losing the leadership of the party he founded to Ntoi Rapapa, who is the Minister of Education and Training.
Squabbles
Messrs Letlailana and Makara’s decision to join the opposition stems from protracted infighting in the RFP and issues they maintain had been left unresolved for a long time.
Mr Letlailana to be specific, had had lengthy squabbles with the RFP leadership. He, together with Dr Phamotse and the RFP’s Abia constituency MP Thuso Makhalanyane, had fallen out with the party’s top brass after voting with the opposition in parliament in August last year.
They were suspended a week later and ultimately expelled by the party’s 30 September 2023 annual general conference.
They subsequently supported an opposition motion oust Mr Matekane on the 16th of October 2023.
Mr Makara had also supported the no confidence motion against Mr Matekane but was neither suspended nor expelled from the party.
Gone for Good
While Dr Phamotse moved on to form her UAT, Messrs Makhalanyane, Letlailana would later be granted amnesty and allowed to re-join the RFP as Mr Matekane sought to bolster his numbers in the National Assembly after surviving the no confidence motion.
Messrs Letlailana and Makara have now decided to ditch the RFP for good.
They blamed their departure from the RFP over its poor leadership.
They said they had for the past two years, hoped for things to change for the better. But they had ran out of patience.
According to Mr Letlailana, the RFP is “unable” to lead the nation.
“It is fumbling and kicking itself in the feet. People are not allowed to raise their voices, they are suppressed under the party’s dictatorial style of leadership,” Mr Letlailana claimed.
As for Mr Makara, he claimed they had tried over time to get Ms Moorosi to convene a meeting to give them a platform to express their grievances but had failed.
Regret
However, Ms Moorosi told the?Sunday Express, shortly after the duo had joined the DC, that the RFP had tried to resolve whatever issues there had raised but “it has always been clear that they wanted to desert the party, as they were not cooperative”.
Mr Letlailana said he had joined the DC because it was a political party that upheld internal democracy. He said it was also a party that listened to the voices of the people.
“It is a party that aligns itself with democracy and allows its members to have a voice and air things out if they have something to say. It is deeply rooted in democracy,” Mr Letlailana said.
Killings
He also berated Mr Matekane for “lacking the interest” to serve Basotho. He said the steadily rising crime rate in Lesotho, especially homicides that “were being committed with impunity”, was indicative of a government that “did not care” for the electorate.
“There are these rampant killings in the country, and one does not understand how the government plans to resolve the problem except banning music and blankets as if they (music and blankets) kill people,” Mr Letlailana said of the recent ban on famo groups and their music.
“Every Mosotho now understands that this government is a joke. It is not working in the best interest of the nation as it has been wasting the country’s resources and time.
“Lesotho is a democracy, and in a democratic dispensation people are supposed to take part in issues that affect them and have a say in decisions being made for them,” he said, adding Basotho’s input had not been sought before thefamo ban was effected.
Silenced
He said RFP members, including its MPs, were being silenced, as they were not allowed to raise their concerns “from the time the party assumed government power to date”.
“Until now, even the ruling party does not know what democracy is. Committees have never been elected, meaning those who follow RFP are not taking part in matters that affects them,” Mr Letlailana said.
“Even these RFP Members of Parliament, they don’t participate in the running of the party. They don’t talk, they are just keeping quite yet they represent the nation in there (parliament).
“For those reasons and many other reasons, I have concluded that enough is enough. We have been elected by Basotho to represent them. If you are unable to do that when you are on the ruling side, it is better to change sides, go where you can speak on national issues.”
Locked out
For his part, Mr Makara said since October 2023 when they walked out of the RFP to support the opposition’s no-confidence vote attempt, the RFP’s leadership had not created a platform for them to express their concerns.
They had even been “locked out” from party activities by Ms Moorosi, he alleged, because the party regarded them “as those who align with opposition”.
“I have many reasons for leaving RFP. There was a time when we snubbed the party and supported a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister. That was because most of the things we campaigned for and promised the people had not been implemented…We were never forgiven for that,” Mr Makara said, adding Mr Matekane’s government was “no longer fit for purpose”.
“My constituency relies on agriculture and rightfully we were expecting that once we take over the governance, we would turn Basotho’s fortunes around in that key sector. But we failed,” he said.
“The other issue is the RFP leadership. It is bad. Our expectation was that the leadership would call us to hear our views. But that never took place. We were regarded as people who had their own agendas and interests.
“We thought our concerns would be resolved in the party but since we were vocal, fighting for our people, we were neglected.”
DC
He continued: “There are many parties in the parliament, and it is always wise to observe how others conduct their issues. So, I have decided to join the DC after observing how that party works.
“After supporting the motion of no-confidence (in the PM), there has never been a time when we were invited to discuss what had compelled us to do so…. We tried to call the secretary general (Ms Moorosi), but she never bothered to convene any meeting to discuss those issues.”
Ms Moorosi insisted that efforts had been made to address the MPs’ grievances, but they had already made up their minds to leave the party.
“It is painful for RFP to lose MPs. We are not happy, but we accept their choice. We have seen many signs previously that these two MPs are not on our side.
“We must accept…. It is their democratic right, and the constitution of Lesotho provides for freedom of association. We just must accept and move on….,” Ms Moorosi said.
“There will always be conflicts in political parties and RFP has its ways of resolving its internal disagreements. We have done everything in our power to try and find solutions, but now that they are leaving, it means we have not reached the resolution we had hoped to have with them.
“I also want to let RFP members know that their party is still intact and powerful even today. We will go to the 2027 general elections still strong and take over government again. We are here to stay.”
Elated
DC Secretary-General, Tsitso Cheba, said he was elated by the duo’s decision to ditch the RFP and join his party. The move ?was a clear indication that the the DC was “doing things right” and the RFP was “doomed”.
“We are very excited about what happened today. We welcome the two members from the RFP… They have joined the most democratic and peaceful party called the DC. It only shows that they have seen positive things in the DC,” Mr Cheba said.
“When one decides to walk out of their own party and join yours, it is an indication that there was no peace where they were, and they have been struggling. This says we should keep on doing what we have been doing as DC. There are people looking at us, admiring what we do. We look forward to welcoming more DC MPs. I assure them they will be accepted with open arms in our party and they will feel at home.”