Mathatisi Sebusi
A teachers’ trade union affiliated to the Coalition of Lesotho Public Employees (COLEPE) has cut ties with the coalition ahead of a planned demonstration to demand a 25 percent salary hike for all public servants.
The Lesotho Teachers’ Trade Union (LTTU) said it had withdrawn from COLEPE over a number of grievances with the coalition. It will thus not participate in the national protest for the high wage hike, which the coalition is demanding from Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s government in the 2024/25 financial year.
The protest is slated for Friday 23rd February 2024.
COLEPE’s spokesperson, Letsatsi Ntsibulane, who doubles as the secretary general of another teachers union, the Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT), told the Sunday Express yesterday that the demonstration would proceed nonetheless. This because COLEPE’s planned meeting with Prime Minister Sam Matekane last week had failed to materialise.
LTTU President Mafokane Ramakhula, confirmed withdrawal of his trade union’s participation in the planned demonstration to the Sunday Express yesterday.
Their withdrawal, Mr Ramakhula said, flowed from the fact that they had decided to cut ties with COLEPE.
COLEPE members include associations representing police officers, teachers, nurses, and other public servants, who have been on the government’s neck since December 2022 with their 25 percent salary increase demand.
Mr Ramakhula said their decision to cut ties with COLEPE had been caused by tensions within COLEPE over strategy and tactics and “systematic exclusion” of LTTU from meaningful engagements within the organisation.
He said the LTTU felt there was no use being part of a coalition which lacked solidarity, adding that the trade union “will fight its battles on its own if need be”.
Asked what the withdrawal from COLEPE meant to the teachers represented, Mr Ramakhula said they had for years fought for teachers’ rights and “nothing will stop us now”.
The LTTU, he said, would ensure that teachers got what was rightfully theirs “but not as members of COLEPE”.
“We have fought for teachers before, and we will do it again, even if we have to do it alone. Maybe in future we will talk with COLEPE and resolve matters and if possible, work together again,” Mr Ramakhula said.
Mr Ramakhula also stressed the decision to withdraw from COLEPE came after careful consideration and “deliberation within the trade union and the national council”.
“LTTU has been an integral part of this loose arrangement, contributing to discussions and actions aimed at advancing the interests of public sector workers in Lesotho,” Mr Ramakhula said.
“However, recent developments have highlighted significant tensions within COLEPE, particularly concerning strategy, tactics, and the systematic exclusion of LTTU from meaningful engagements.
“Despite our unwavering commitment to collaborative efforts, it has become increasingly evident that the relationship within this arrangement has veered away from collective decision making and grassroots involvement.”
Mr Ramakhula said LTTU was driven by a definitive mandate from their leadership and membership, primary of which was prioritising representation of their members’ interests above everything else.
COLEPE on the other hand, he added, made hurried decisions denying LTTU the opportunity to engage the people it represented.
Any position taken by the LTTU leadership, he said, was informed by collective views of grassroots members and careful consideration of their interests.
Meanwhile, speaking for COLEPE yesterday, Mr Ntsibulane told the Sunday Express the meeting with Mr Matekane did not materialise as the latter was a no-show.
According to Mr Ntsibulane, they only realised when arriving at the premier’s office on the day of the meeting, that they were called by civil servants working in the Prime Minister’s office.
They had been called to explain their letter to the prime minister, Mr Ntsibulane said.
Since COLEPE wanted to meet with Mr Matekane and not his representatives, they had decided to proceed with the demonstration until government addressed their demands, he said.
Mr Ntsibulane said the decision to stage the protest came after the government’s failure to honour its commitments to civil servants, including implementing a 25 percent salary increase in the 2024/ 2025 financial year.
Mr Ntsibulane said they had exhausted all possible options to have their demands addressed “to no avail”.
“As a result, we have no other option but to go on a national public demonstration to force the government to address our grievances.”