…demand action on corruption and incompetence
Mohloai Mpesi
DISGRUNTLED Revolution for Prosperity MPs have petitioned Prime Minister Sam Matekane asking him to take decisive action to urgently address “rampant corruption and mismanagement” within government ministries.
The MPs wrote to the Prime Minister last month but one of them tells the Lesotho Times that their letter was ignored by Mr Matekane.
He said they then started boycotting parliament to get the Prime Minister’s attention. He could not disclose how many MPs had exactly signed the petition.
Since Parliament re-opened on 3 November 2025 after the Independence Day break, there had been a marked reduction in attendance by RFP MPs prompting opprobrium of the legislators from the Deputy Speaker.
Mr Matekane was then forced to call an RFP caucus meeting to reprimand his MPs against boycotting parliament.
However, in this caucus meeting held at Parliament building on Monday this week, disgruntled MPs reportedly took the opportunity to vent their frustrations over poor service delivery and what they described as underperformance of several ministries.
An RFP MP, who spoke to the Lesotho Times on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, confirmed that the caucus meeting focused on corruption, poor performance and lack of accountability within some ministries.
The MPs then demanded that Mr Matekane respond to their petition within 14 days from the Monday meeting outlining the actions he intended to take to address their concerns.
“Yes, it is true that a letter has been written to the Prime Minister. It is general knowledge that there are issues of corruption, underperformance, and lack of service delivery in some ministries that people have been complaining about,” the MP said.
“These matters were discussed in-depth during the caucus. The MPs had been boycotting parliamentary sessions to draw Mr Matekane’s attention to their concerns……..”
The source said the MPs had compiled a list of ministries they were not happy with and asked the Prime Minister to respond outlining the measures he intended to take to address the malfeasance in those portfolios.
The renewed discontent within the RFP, comes amid growing allegations on social media that a new plot is being hatched to try and oust the prime Minister. But the MP who spoke to us dismissed that as baseless social media banter.
They will support Mr Matekane to last his full term until 2027, he vowed. All they wanted was for him to revamp his level of competence and deal with the issues they had raised.
RFP deputy spokesperson, Thabo Maretlane, declined to discuss the matter when contacted for comment.
“This issue has already caused a lot of noise on social media, and I am not comfortable speaking about it. Please ask someone else, maybe Ntate Shelile,” Mr Maretlane said.
However, efforts to reach RFP spokesperson Mokhethi Shelile and secretary general Nthati Moorosi were unsuccessful as their mobile phones were unreachable.
Mr Matekane’s administration recently celebrated its third anniversary since his 28 October 2025 inauguration.
It held a Cabinet retreat in Mohale’s Hoek to reflect on the past three years and plan ahead for the remaining two years. The Prime Minister vowed at the retreat his Cabinet would complete outstanding projects within the remaining two years of his term.
The premier narrowly survived a motion of no confidence filed on 16 October 2023 by opposition Basotho National Party (BNP) leader Machesetsa Mofomobe, with support from then-DC legislator Mootsi Lehata, who has since ironically defected to the RFP.
The motion was aborted after it was challenged in court by another RFP MP Puseletso Lejone.
Mr Lejone argued that the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution — which prevented a sitting prime minister from dissolving parliament when faced with a no-confidence vote — was unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court ruled in his favour, and the opposition’s appeal to the Court of Appeal also failed.
While that court process played out, Mr Matekane took the opportunity to co-opt more opposition MPs and consolidate his numbers in parliament. He seems secure now, but speculation is now mounting that the letter written to him by the disgruntled MPs from his own party marks the beginning of a new push to seek his ouster.
Meanwhile, the lower attendance of parliament by MPs had riled Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Tšepang Tŝita-Mosena.
She this week warned that MPs who miss sittings without obtaining leave from the Speaker would face financial penalties.
“If a member fails to attend the sittings or meetings without obtaining leave from the Speaker, an amount determined by the Business Committee shall be deducted from his or her sitting allowance for each session missed….,” Ms Tŝita-Mosena said.
Ms Tŝita-Mosena lamented that the House had on many occasions lacked a quorum to conduct sittings. The situation had now become embarrassing, she said.
“The nation expects us to fulfil our mandate…..We must respect the public by doing our work diligently so that they also respect us. We should lead by example,” Ms Tŝita-Mosena said in Parliament this week.
Ms Tŝita-Mosena cited Standing Order No. 4, which obliges MPs to attend all parliamentary sittings, committee meetings, official seminars, and workshops approved by the Speaker unless leave has been granted and an apology accepted.
“With effect from this month of November, all members who fail to attend without the Speaker’s knowledge or without making a formal request will be deemed to have chosen not to attend.
“In accordance with the Standing Orders, the Business Committee will immediately deduct a specified amount from their sitting allowances.”
She also said attendance records will now be made public.
“The nation has a right to know when you are in attendance or not. Henceforth, we shall publish attendance records of members monthly.
“There will be a change in the register — members will sign in upon entering the House and sign out when leaving. These are preliminary measures to strengthen attendance compliance among MPs.”
