Following the recent dissolution of parliament by His Majesty, King Letsie III, the Lesotho Times (LT) caught up with Law and Justice Minister Lekhetho Rakuoane. Advocate Rakuoane’s ministry had a key mandate of facilitating the implementation of the long-delayed multi-sector reforms. It also had a key responsibility of improving the judicial system which has been in shambles for a long time as evidenced by the chronic shortage of judges and massive backlog of cases. In this comprehensive interview, Adv Rakuoane, gives his perspective on the achievements and failures of his ministry in particular and the Moeketsi Majoro administration in general.
Excerpts:
LT: You took over from Professor Nqosa Mahao as Law and Justice Minister in April 2021. What do you consider to be your biggest achievements to date?
Rakuoane: In terms of legislation, I scored a lot of successes. We enacted the Witness Protection Act. Although it is still to be implemented, at least we now have the relevant piece of legislation. I’m sure when resources permit, the next government will implement it to ensure witnesses are afforded protection. We also came up with regulations providing for lifestyle audits of top civil servants. This is aimed at curbing corruption. There are set dates for the declaration of assets. I don’t know whether the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) has the capacity to implement this but we have at least provided the enabling legislation.
As part of ensuring the smooth administration of justice, I pushed for the recruitment of more judges and the opening up of the Northern Division of the High Court in Leribe.
LT: You’re part of a government, which like previous ones, has failed to meet SADC deadlines for the implementation of multi-sector reforms aimed at achieving lasting peace and stability in the country. In your view, why has your government and previous ones failed to implement the reforms which were recommended by SADC in 2016?
Rakuoane: In my view, the lack of political will was one of the main reasons behind the repeated failure to implement the reforms. Another factor is that leaders of the successive coalition governments couldn’t agree on how best to implement the reforms. Different leaders had different interpretations of what the reforms entailed and how far they could be implemented.
Reforms are a contested area and everything depends on who is in charge of government and calling the shots at any given moment.
With regards to (Pakalitha) Mosisili-led government (from 2015 to 2017), I think the main problem was that of inclusivity. He (Mosisili) probably felt that the reforms would be considered illegitimate because some political leaders were not part of his government and they were not involved in the process at the time. His successor, Thomas Thabane (2017 to 2020) was also dogged by the same challenges until 2019 when the NRA (National Reforms Authority) Act was passed (providing for the creation of the NRA as a statutory body to spearhead the implementation of the reforms). Once the NRA was in place, a new problem emerged- that of members squabbling among themselves instead of getting on with the job at hand.
I had to call the NRA to order. I emphasised on the need to come up with something cogent and coherent instead of being all over the place. That’s how the Omnibus Bill was conceived.
That Bill was my brainchild. It was authored by me and nobody else. I conceived the idea of distilling and having all the proposed constitutional amendments in one Omnibus Bill in June 2021. The drafting began in late July (2021) and the first draft which had about one third of the proposed amendments was completed in September. Even after this was done, there was infighting within the NRA which led to a two months delay in completing the remaining proposed amendments. So, this says there were various factors accounting for the failure to implement the reforms.
LT: What would you say have been the major achievements of this government that you’re part of?
Rakuoane: We’ve pushed the reforms process to where it is now. We narrowly missed out on the deadline to pass the Omnibus Bill with the proposed constitutional amendments. (The Bill was passed in the National Assembly but it was yet to be approved by Senate when the 10th Parliament was dissolved at midnight on 13 July 2022). It was remarkable that we got that far. We are still fighting to ensure that they are approved.
We also worked hard to address obstacles hence the successful signing of the United States’ US$300 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Compact II earlier this year.
We made significant strides in fighting human trafficking. This has resulted in the United States government upgrading Lesotho’s ranking to Tier 2 on its human trafficking index report for 2022. Previously we had been on Tier 2 Watch List and before that it had been on Tier 3 – the lowest ranking. I’m happy with the progress we’ve made in this regard.
We also had stability in government despite the turbulence in the All Basotho Convention (ABC) which saw some prominent members leaving to start their own parties. But Dr Majoro managed to hold onto until the governing coalition finished its term.
LT: Apart from failing to pass the reforms bill, what else would you say were the major failures/challenges of the Majoro administration?
Rakuoane: Initially we had challenges dealing with Covid-19. In the beginning it was difficult coming up with a strategy on how to respond to the pandemic. We eventually set up the National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC). There were perceptions that the secretariat had a lot of flaws. But in my view, it was not as chaotic as its predecessor, the inter-ministerial National Emergency Command Centre. In the end it successfully implemented the mass vaccination campaign against Covid-19 and brought the pandemic under control.
We were also slow to deal with natural disasters. There were floods which hit several parts of the country earlier this year.
There was also the issue of police brutality. As Minister of Law and Justice and as a human rights lawyer, the failure to address police brutality was really shameful on our part. An example of this was the 16 June 2022 fatal shooting of a National University of Lesotho student by the police. That was very bad in terms of governance. The major handicap is that the administration of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) has not been smooth. That has been a big problem. The police force is in a chaotic state. That’s why the prime minister started moves to remove the Police Commissioner (Holomo Molibeli).
LT: LCD leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing was recently arrested in South Africa in connection with the 2016 fraud charges against him in Lesotho. You then wrote to your South African counterpart, Ronald Lamola, saying you did not have any objections to him being granted bail. Was this your personal view or did you consult the coalition principals, Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro and his deputy, Mathibeli Mokhothu, before writing to Mr Lamola?
Rakuoane: That was the decision of the prime minister and his deputy. Even my own advisers indicated that they had no objections with Mr Metsing being granted bail. I did not just wake up and scribble that letter to Mr Lamola without any advice.
I know that issue was a hot potato and some people did not want to be seen to be involved in it.
LT: Some legal experts are of the view that even if Mr Metsing had been arrested over a totally different matter, you wasted a golden opportunity to have him extradited to the country to face the more serious treason and murder charges. What is your response to this?
Rakuoane: It is a question of procedure. You cannot arrest me for a crime which you have not pursued just because you want me for another one. I don’t think we’re being fair here.
I don’t think it would have been proper to extradite Mr Metsing to Lesotho to face treason and murder charges without following proper procedures. It would have been unprocedural to extradite him to face the treason and murder charges on the basis of a 2018 extradition request for him to stand trial for an entirely different charge of corruption.
The right procedure would have been for the judiciary to apply for a fresh extradition on the basis of the treason and murder charges. I was expecting an application for his extradition in terms of the treason trial but there was nothing. No extradition request was ever made to me by our judiciary. I’m the one who signs such requests as Law and Justice Minister but I never received any such request for him to be extradited to face treason and murder charges. Instead, what happened is that an old extradition was invoked after he had left the country after spending three years here. Besides that, it would have been improper to try and extradite him when he has a pending High Court application wherein he has said he wants to return home.
He has a case which is being argued in the High Court pertaining to the conditions of his coming back home. Why should he be denied an opportunity to be heard in court in terms of the conditions that he’s proposing? Before the court has pronounced itself on that issue, some say we should arrest him on a matter we never pursued him for through an extradition request. And we call that a golden opportunity? I don’t know what kind of justice that would be. How can a man face justice under such conditions? That’s why he says he fears for his life and feels persecuted. Maybe some people don’t like him and they think that’s the easiest way of dealing with him. That’s not how we ought to do things. Those who are pushing that agenda might face the same situation in future. We must be fair to everybody. Let’s give justice to friend and foe alike.
LT: You are leader of the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD). What are your plans in the event of winning the October elections and forming government?
Rakuoane: Decentralisation of power and services will be one of our top priorities. Our manifesto states that local governments should be given 20 percent of the national budget to enable them to operate effectively. The reason why we have poor service delivery is local government is not considered important. We can’t say that we have a decentralisation policy when it’s not backed up by a constitutional mechanism or the necessary funds.
We will also set up a salaries commission to regulate salaries and other benefits for senior government officials. This will do away with the current scenario where cabinet ministers and legislators decide on their own benefits. Any salary increments should be contained in a public document that is backed by constitutional and statutory instruments. There is need for transparency to do away with the perception of self-enrichment among political leaders.
We’ll also promote local agricultural production. As the Covid-19 induced slump in business and economic activities showed, you’re doomed if you don’t produce your own basic food, like maize and vegetables.
