BNP leader Thesele ‘Maseribane
Billy Ntaote
Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Thesele ‘Maseribane,has maintained that the former coalition government party “does not have a secretary general” despite a High Court order reversing Lesojane Leuta’s suspension from the post.
Leuta was indefinitely suspended as BNP secretary general on 26 February this year for allegedly submitting a Proportional Representation (PR) list of the party’s Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) allegedly without the authority to do so.
The party had then taken legal action against Mr Leuta, but the High Court dismissed the case on 18 February, citing the person who had filed the application, BNP chairperson Nthabiseng Makoae, did not have the powers to take such action.
However, a day after the judgement, the party’s deputy leader, Joang Molapo, informed Mr Leuta that disciplinary action would be taken against him over the issue—a notification followed by a suspension letter dated 26 February and signed by the former Home Affairs minister.
Mr Leuta, who has since been sworn-in as an MP because he was fifth on the BNP PR list, challenged the suspension in the High Court, which ruled in his favour on Monday this week.
But Chief ‘Maseribane on Tuesday told the Lesotho Times that the party still did not have a secretary general despite the High Court decision.
“We don’t have a secretary general in office; I only know of the acting Secretary General and not the person you are asking me about,” Chief ‘Maseribane said.
The former Sports Minister would not reveal if the BNP would be appealing the High Court decision.
“The party is going to be announcing its next move in due course, but what I can say here and now, is that we don’t have a secretary general. When the time is right, we will let the nation know about our decision as a party,” said Chief ‘Maseribane.
Meanwhile, BNP spokesperson, Machesetsa Mofomobe, said the party had nothing “personal” against Mr Leuta but only trying to put its administrative affairs in order.
“We have not seen the High Court’s written judgement so we can only make a decision on the issue once we do.
“But again, it should be known that the judgement whether, it is in favour of the party or Mr Leuta, does not stop the BNP’s internal processes from going ahead and working on matters that affect the institution,” said Mr Mofomobe.
“The BNP will go ahead and deal with its internal administrative matters as it sees fit and decisions by the courts will not, in any way, stop the party from exercising its functions.”
Mr Leuta was not available for comment yesterday as his mobile phone kept ringing without being answered.
