…accused of sowing rifts in RFP in pursuit of power
…one MP labels him a “hypocrite”
Mohloai Mpesi
Cabinet Minister Lebona Lephema has been accused of sowing seeds of heightened factionalism in the Ruling Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) as he allegedly intensifies his rumoured bid to succeed Prime Minister Sam Matekane.
The charge has been made by outspoken RFP legislator for?Pela-T?oeu constituency, ‘Mope Khati. The RFP’s Peka constituency legislator, Mohopoli Monokoane, has also taken a dig at Mr Lephema describing him as a “hypocrite”.
Messrs Khati and Monokoane accused Mr Lephema, who is also the Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police Minister, of sowing divisions in the RFP by undermining fellow legislators and interfering in their constituencies.
Mr Khati said Mr Lephema was doing his groundwork to amass the support of constituencies to put himself in good stead to succeed Mr Matekane whenever the latter was no longer Prime Minister. Mr Monokoane warned Mr Matekane to be warry of Mr Lephema, describing the minister as a “hypocrite”.
Mr Khati said instead of focusing on his demanding ministry, Mr Lephema, the ruling party’s Teyateyaneng lawmaker, was focused on trying to get a head start in any future succession race.
Mr Khati blasted Mr Lephema for canvassing constituency committees directly to help him recruit people for jobs at ?the department of home affairs, which falls under his portfolio, leapfrogging their MPs. The RFP has been caught in a storm of recruiting its supporters for the jobs at home affairs in violation of its pledge to promote merit as per report in the current edition of the?Lesotho Times.
Mr Khati described Mr Lephema as a “cancer plaguing the RFP”. Mr Khati ??was one of RFP legislators, who rebelled against their party and supported the opposition’s October 2023 motion of no-confidence against Mr Matekane.
He was welcomed back into the RFP fold with other rebellious RFP lawmakers. At their welcome media briefing, Mr Khati vowed to speak out whenever things went wrong.? He pledged to “always call a spade a spade”.
He was welcomed back alongside Hlotse and Tsikoane MPs, Rethabile Nalane and Malefane Mabote, as well as the Abia constituency lawmaker, Thuso Makhalanyane.
Mr Khati said while other national executive committee (NEC) members had power ambitions, Mr Lephema’s “disrespect for boundaries took the cake”.
It has been alleged that Mr Lephema, a multimillionaire businessman and mining magnate, considers himself Mr Matekane’s natural successor. But he is also politically astute to know that succession politics are not an overnight event but a process. Hence, he had already started putting his ducks in a row for whenever Mr Matekane steps down.
“If Matekane drops dead today, Lephema considers himself the next Prime Minister. He has little regard for Mme Majara (the deputy RFP leader…..,” said another RFP executive who preferred not to be named.
“He also does not like Nthati Moorosi (the secretary general). All his machinations are aimed at paving the road for himself for State House whenever there is a vacancy…..”
Ms Majara and to a certain extent Ms Moorosi, the Communications, Science, Technology and Innovation minister, are touted as the most likely candidates for any faction that might argue that Mr Matekane should be succeeded by a woman. But Mr Lephema is said to have no regard for them.
Mr Khati also hit out at Ms Moorosi for “interfering in youth committees” to try and gain followership.? But as secretary general, Ms Moorosi can rightfully argue that she has a legitimate right to interface with party structures. The secretary general is the chief administrative officer of any political party.
The?Sunday Express could not reach Ms Moorosi as her phone went unanswered.
Ms Moorosi ?was at the Leqele High School for the party’s youth league elections. It has been alleged her preferred candidate for the RFP youth league presidency was ‘Mapitso Lefenya.
Ms Lefenya, however, lost to Lesala Maphathe, who is believed to belong in Mr Lephema’s camp.
Mr Khati also alleged that Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Lejone Mpotjoane, had been “sowing divisions” in constituencies in pursuit of building his own support base.
However, Mr Mpotjoane defiantly told the Sunday Express yesterday, that there was “absolutely nothing wrong with campaigning for political support if need be”.
Mr Lephema could not be reached as he did not answer his phone.
Mr Khati did not have kind words for him however.
“Ntate Lebona’s issue and his actions are not a surprising thing in the party. RFP is developing deep factions which are going to divide the party badly because of him,” Mr Khati said.
“But it is not only him as this kind of behaviour has become a norm in the RFP. People are focused on enriching themselves and advancing their own interests, instead of working for unity.
“People unashamedly use every resource at their disposal to influence the members and constituency committees to follow them. One can only wonder where this is headed.”
He said Mr Lephema had interfered with youth and constituency committees without regard for their MPs.
“We saw him (Mr Lephema) interfering with youth committees. We saw his actions when he entered other lawmakers’ constituencies, gathering constituency committee members,” Mr Khati said.
“Because of his strong financial muscle, he is sending big vehicles everywhere. Officials of different constituency committee are no longer planning anything with their lawmakers.
“Same thing with these home affairs vacancies. He was sowing discord between MPs and constituencies committees. He made these committees understand that they have powers to appoint RFP members in their constituencies who are eligible for employment.”
“So, legislators are complaining that they worked hard together with their campaign teams, only for people who did not have a hand in such, by virtue of being committee chairpersons or members, to be given the power to employ their wives and people of their choice.”
“Why does he (Lephema) want the support of constituencies committees, more than that of legislators who are in parliament and supporting the government” he asked.
Elections
Mr Khati speculated that elections for the party’s national executive committee (NEC) would probably follow soon, hence the canvassing for support. The RFP has previously said it will only hold NEC elections after around 2027, though it has now started holding elections for other party structures.
“Maybe the NEC elections will be held soon and now people are preparing themselves for those elections. The rate at which these factions are growing is very high. There is a lot going on and there are no answers.
“There could also be a possibility, that the Prime Minister will step down at some point in the future, based on the confusion that I see in the party. It tells me that something is brewing. We don’t know what it is but there is something that is creating this rapid movement,” Mr Khati said.
It has also been suggested that whenever the NEC elections are eventually held and Mr Matekane remains party leader, then Mr Lephema will gun to be his deputy, replacing Ms Majara, and laying?his foundation to eventually become Prime Minister.
Hypocrite
A fortnight ago, in a leaked Whatsapp voice clip, the RFP’s Peka constituency legislator, Mohopoli Monokoane, expressed his dissatisfaction with what he described as Mr Lephema’s unethical practices.
He accused him of trying to overthrow Mr Matekane to take the party’s leadership, consequently becoming the prime minister.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mr Monokoane said the issue was “still being resolved in the party” and that he would “soon revert with an answer.”
In his voice clip that went viral on social media, he urged Mr Matekane to reprimand Mr Lephema before the latter “destroyed” the party.
“Mr Matekane, I am one of the people who heeded your call when you compared Lesotho to a sinking ship with no one rescuing it on the 22nd?of March 2022,” Mr Monokoane said.
“Some men that you walk with, specifically this man Lebona, he did not join RFP to support you. He came because he wants to build himself, overthrow you and become a leader. Lebona does not love you, he is only giving you a plastic smile.
“If you don’t recognise his hypocrisy and bullying in the party, we will lose this party. I don’t want us to lose this party. Let’s clean our house.”
He added: “I am not the type of a person who usually speaks in WhatsApp groups, but this time around I am hurt. We are sinking because of Lebona. Reprimand Lebona.
“There is only one person destroying this party, and that is Lebona, nobody else. All these MPs have constituencies which they represent. But it is only Lebona who is doing as he pleases. Lebona has made himself the God of other MPs and that should end. Take control so that we don’t lose this party because of Lebona.”
DCEO
Mr Khati said Mr Monokoane was being “chased” by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) and the police over allegations of stealing fertilisers when the Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition Thabo Mofosi, Mr Lephema and Thaba-Bosiu constituency lawmaker Isaac Malebaleba, had also allegedly stolen fertilisers, but were not being pursued by law enforcement agencies.
“When you listen to Mr Monokoane’s clip, you’ll learn that there are other fights which are playing out at a higher level which are still being fought. And state resources are being used to fight people personally because of politics,” Mr Khati said.
“Now, some are using security agencies to pursue others. Mr Monokoane mentioned that he is being pursued because of fertilisers. Mr Lephema took fertilisers from the government, Mr Malebaleba also did the same, Mr Mofosi did the same. So, why is Mr Monokoane being the only one investigated by DCEO and police relating to fertilisers” asked Mr Khati.
“What about the rest of the people whom we know that fertilisers reached their storages? How are they different from him? Now, it’s a matter of survival and you are fortunate, when you have government resources at your disposal, and you can abuse them to pursue others.”
Mpotjoane
Mr Mpotjoane told the Sunday Express yesterday that whenever elections for national committees had been announced or were approaching, interested parties had a right to lobby the support of different constituencies to get elected. There was, therefore, nothing wrong with people going all out to cultivate grassroots support. He said that for instance, the RFP’s Maputsoe constituency lawmaker and Minister of Public Service, Steven Mputi, had been to Botha-Bothe to campaign adding “there is nothing wrong with that”. Mr Mputi is campaigning to lead the RFP men’s committee.
“There is nothing wrong with someone campaigning so that RFP members will elect him. There are circulars released, of national committees’ elections, such as for the men’s committee and women’s committees. Election campaigns for such committees are ongoing,” Mr Mpotjoane said.
He however refuted that elections for the RFP national executive committee were looming. He said the party’s 30 September 2022 special conference, had confirmed the current NEC would remain substantive until after the 2027 general elections.
“We held a special conference last year which confirmed the NEC. So, a NEC elective conference is not even a thought. If anybody is saying I’m campaigning for that, they must explain to you what they mean. I, right now, am here at my Hololo constituency, administering games,” Mr Mpotjoane said.
After the youth league elections, the RFP is now due to hold its men’s league and women’s league committees.
Maretlane
For his part, RFP deputy spokesperson and Thaba-Phat?oa constituency lawmaker, Thabo Maretlane, rubbished Mr Khati’s claims and labelled them “silly propaganda”.
“I don’t know anything about those things. A lot has been said about everybody in the executive. I don’t know all these issues which are being spoken about. We are working well as the NEC. We are doing things the right way. This one is new. It’s a propaganda,” Mr Maretlane said.
“NEC elections will only be elected after five years and nothing will change.”
Mothae
Nonetheless, Mr Lephema appears to have become a lightning rod for criticism in the RFP and the country at large. When Mr Matekane divested from Lets’eng mine to avoid an obvious conflict of interest because the government owns stakes in all key diamond mining ventures, Mr Lephema who had similar earth moving interests in Mothae Mine had been expected to do the same. However, he remained put. To the contrary, the owners of Mothae, Lucapa Diamond Company, have since announced they have entered into an agreement with him to take over the entire mine.
Opposition Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe, says Mr Lephema’s move proves that claims by rich RFP founders that they had entered politics to serve the people were a “hoax”. They had gone into it to protect their interests.