…in conjunction with disgruntled ABC members
…as his plot to oust Majara now appears doomed
Mohloai Mpesi
DISGRUNTLED business tycoon, Lebona Lephema, is now seriously considering forming a new political party and severing ties with the ruling Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) of which he is one of the key founding members, the Lesotho Times has established.
Despite his repeated affirmations that he remains a loyal member of the RFP and won’t leave the party, this publication is reliably informed that Mr Lephema has decided that if things don’t go his way and his project to wrestle the RFP’s deputy leadership from incumbent Nthomeng Majara fails, as it seems certain to, then he would have no option but to form his own party. And in preparation for that possible eventuality, Mr Lephema has been holding consultations with disgruntled members of the seemingly moribund All Basotho Convention (ABC).
Some of the disgruntled ABC officials are tried and tested political operators and Mr Lephema believes they would bring some political gravitas to his new party.
Among the ABC heavyweights Mr Lephema has allegedly held consultations with are former Minister of Small Business, Cooperatives and Marketing, Chalane Phori, and former ABC secretary-general and proportional representation (PR) legislator, Lebohang Hlaele.
Both men, however, have dismissed the allegations.
Fallout with RFP
Mr Lephema is a founding member of the RFP and serves on its National Executive Committee (NEC). He is a former Minister of the then unwieldy Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police portfolio.
Mr Lephema fell out with party leader and Prime Minister Sam Matekane when he resisted the splitting of that ministry and his re-deployment to another portfolio.
He was subsequently dismissed from Cabinet in May after refusing to accept his redeployment to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Business Development in a reshuffle announced on 29 April. Mr Lephema had insisted that he wanted to remain in charge of his former ministry despite his performance there having been underwhelming. He had also cited possible conflict of interests as he was involved in transactions with the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC), which falls under the trade ministry. Mr Matekane, who had been accused of indecisiveness, refused to budge this time round and elected to release Mr Lephema from Cabinet.
But above all, Mr Lephema had also believed he was entitled to the deputy leadership of the RFP as he claimed to have co-sponsored the RFP with Mr Matekane.
The Lesotho Times has previously reported that Mr Lephema believes he deserves the RFP deputy leadership position, not only because of his financial contributions to the party during its formation, but because he sees the position as a viable stepping stone to eventually succeeding Mr Matekane.
Mr Lephema’s ambition to oust Ms Majara has now reportedly divided the RFP into two factions, one aligned with Mr Lephema himself and the other sympathetic to the Deputy Prime Minister. Ms Majara inevitably enjoys the upper hand for now as she has the backing of the Prime Minister.
That has not deterred Mr Lephema, however, who has been involved in several manoeuvres, including allegedly financing party members demanding that the RFP holds its first elective congress. To ensure that he ousts Ms Majara should such a congress be convened, Mr Lephema had gone into overdrive mobilising the party’s structures by holding countrywide events christened chill-out (chillaz).
However, his plot to control the party structures was dealt a severe blow when Mr Matekane barred party officials from conducting activities not sanctioned by him or the NEC. The move was widely seen as an attempt to curb Mr Lephema’s ambitions. It only infuriated Mr Lephema further and his supporters had vowed to defy the directive. However, Mr Lephema appears to have heeded Mr Matekane’s directive. Now he has allegedly resorted to surreptitious consultations to prepare the groundwork for a new party.
Elective congress
Mr Lephema’s decision to oust Ms Majara now looks certain to fail. The RFP is not holding any elective conference until after the 2028 general elections. Any attempts by Mr Lephema’s allies to force an elective conference before then are certain to be rebuffed. Some of Mr Lephema’s supporters have gone to court to try and force the RFP to hold an AGM at which they will demand a special elective conference. The initiative appears futile as no court will want to interfere in regulating a party’s internal affairs.
With the doors seemingly shut for Mr Lephema’s plot to oust Ms Majara, it seems the only plot left for him is to form a new political party.
The alleged plot
A source familiar with the alleged plan said Mr Lephema had been meeting Messrs Phori and Hlaele, as well as former Malimong constituency legislator Leshoboro Mohlajoa, since mid-September.
“They have been holding meetings since mid-September with Mr Phori, Mr Mohlajoa and Mr Hlaele… The goal is to form a new party,” the source said.
The source said they had been meeting almost weekly, with Mr Lephema sometimes sending his proxy, former Maseru District Administrator Tšepo Lethobane, to the meetings.
“According to my knowledge, several ABC members have been meeting with Mr Lephema or his ally Mr Lethobane. They have been meeting weekly and it’s clear they are discussing a new party that Mr Lephema would lead,” another source said.
Trip to Makhoakhoeng
The source further alleged that Mr Lephema would sponsor a trip by disgruntled ABC members to Makhoakhoeng in Ha Matala next month to meet the party’s founder, former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane.
The disgruntled ABC members are expected to use the visit to inform Mr Thabane that they are no longer ABC members even though they will not be immediately joining any political party.
“They will pronounce that they are ‘standing on the island’, meaning they are not members of any party even though they would have quit the ABC. But once Lephema’s political project has been finalised, then they would move over,” the source said.
The source suggested that Mr Hlaele might not attend in person because he remains an ABC PR legislator and could risk losing his parliamentary seat if he crossed the floor.
“Mr Hlaele might not go because he is a PR legislator for the ABC, but he is part of the plot and he appears in that plan,” the source said.
Denials
Contacted for comment, Mr Phori dismissed the allegations, insisting that he remained an ABC member and had no plans to leave the party.
He said he knew Mr Lephema only as a businessman he liked and had merely heard that the latter was forming a new political party.
“That is not true. I am still a member of the ABC. I have not even planned to leave the party. There are people who have pronounced that they are no longer members of the ABC. Not me.
“How do they even associate me with Mr Lephema? I don’t know him personally. He is just a businessman that I love. I only heard that he is forming a new party,” he said.
Mr Phori confirmed that he would attend an event at Makhoakhoeng on 15 November alongside ABC members and Mr Thabane, but maintained that his attendance had nothing to do with leaving the ABC.
“I will be at Makhoakhoeng on 15 November rejoicing with ABC members and its founder,” he said.
Mr Hlaele also dismissed the allegations, saying he had never been involved in any plan to form a new party and remained a committed ABC member.
“I have never been part of that plan. I have only heard that Mr Lephema is forming a party, but I don’t have clear details about it.
“I am a true ABC member. I am ‘yellow’ under my feet to demonstrate my deep love for the ABC.
“Yes, I don’t like the conflicts within the ABC NEC, but they can’t take my love away from the ABC. I did not come to the ABC with those people who were fighting. I came alone,” he said.
Mr Hlaele has nonetheless been vociferous in his criticism of party leader Nkaku Kabi, at one time dismissing him as a “small boy” in a radio interview.
Efforts to contact Messrs Lephema and Lethobane were unsuccessful as the former’s mobile phone rang unanswered while Mr Lethobane’s mobile phone was unreachable.
RFP refutes claims
The RFP spokesperson, Mokhethi Shelile, dismissed the allegations as baseless, insisting that Mr Lephema remained a committed RFP member.
“Those are just baseless rumours which have been circulating on social media for a while now. He (Lephema) has on numerous occasions disputed such claims.
“I was with him last week and he never said such a thing. I have not met him this week, but I am sure that even if you call him, he is going to dispute those claims,” Mr Shelile said.
ABC turmoil
The alleged plot comes as the ABC grapples with a deepening leadership crisis that has seen senior officials resign amid persistent internal divisions.
Founded by Mr Thabane in October 2006, the ABC went on to lead coalition governments from 2012 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2022. The party reached its electoral peak in 2017, when it won 51 constituencies and led the coalition government that took office that year.
However, the ABC suffered a heavy defeat in the October 2022 elections, losing to the then six-month-old RFP and securing only eight proportional representation (PR) seats. It has been in free fall since then and appears to be on a fast slide to complete oblivion.
The ABC has been plagued by factionalism since its February 2019 elective conference, which ushered in a new NEC that clashed with Mr Thabane, who was then both party leader and prime minister.
Mr Kabi was subsequently elected party leader on 2 February 2022, defeating Dr Moeketsi Majoro by 723 votes to 609, after Mr Thabane announced that he would step down as ABC leader in the wake of his criminal indictment for allegedly murdering his ex-wife Lipolelo.
Mr Kabi’s NEC had inherited the party’s culture of serious infighting.
More recently, the Sunday Express reported on 31 August 2026 that Mr Kabi had issued a circular accusing his deputy, Samonyane Ntsekele, and the party’s secretary general, Thebe Mokoatle, of “deliberately destabilising” the party.
The circular, dated 25 August, followed an incident in which Mr Mokoatle was reportedly attacked by Mr Kabi’s bodyguards during an NEC meeting several weeks earlier.
In the circular, Mr Kabi accused the two officials of repeatedly defying NEC decisions. He alleged that Mr Mokoatle had organised rallies in constituencies not selected by the NEC, while Mr Ntsekele had renewed the party’s office lease without the NEC’s knowledge and contradicted the party leader at rallies in front of members.
Mr Kabi further alleged that Mr Ntsekele and others had been influencing constituencies to call for a special conference.
Mr Mokoatle dismissed the allegations as “100 percent fabricated”, while Mr Ntsekele said he was surprised by the claims.
The dispute was followed by the resignation of the two officials and other disgruntled members from the ABC leadership.
Mr Mokoatle resigned as secretary general, while Mr Ntsekele stepped down as deputy leader. ABC chairman Kemiso Mosenene, deputy secretary general Tšolo Khechane and deputy chairman Lebakeng Ishmael Mpana also resigned from the NEC last month.
Now a shell of its former self, several ABC officials now seek a new lease of political life in Mr Lephema’s political project, if it comes to fruition.
