
’Marafaele Mohloboli
THE Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations will this week host the 17th NGO week at ’Manthabiseng Convention Centre in Maseru as part of efforts to facilitate and build linkages between ordinary citizens and government.
The event starts tomorrow and runs until Wednesday under the theme “Demanding Rule of Law, Accountability and Civic Participation in the Semi-centennial of Lesotho”. It will be graced by various experts on socio-economic and political issues in Lesotho.
LCN Director, Seabata Motsamai said the government needed to be more accountable to the public, adding civil society played a vital role in building democracy.
He said Lesotho still faced political challenges as shown by the ongoing tensions which were holding back socio-economic development.
“There is a high level of intolerance among state institutions as evidenced by protracted tension between the security formations, lack of trust in parliament and a polarised civil service,” Mr Motsamai said.
He said there was “significant political intolerance and insecurity post 2015 elections as evidenced by the state of instability that undermines the rule of law, as well as violations of human rights as evidenced by torture, killings, lengthy pre-trial detention and long trial delays”.
He said as a result, many people including some leaders of the opposition and some military personnel had fled into exile fearing for their lives.
He also said the high rate of corruption in the civil service translated into poor service delivery.
“The institutions of governance are not perceived as independent by some sections of the society and this makes it difficult to demand accountability from the three state organs namely legislature, executive and judiciary,” Mr Motsamai said.
He said their relations with government were strained as they were treated like unwelcome intruders.