Mathatisi Sebusi
The government has established a counter terrorism unit to deal with what Finance and Development Planning Minister, Retsélisitsoe Matlanyane, describes as “hostile domestic actors” bent on destabilising the country.
She did not mention names but accused the internal “hostile actors” of working with an equally hostile foreign intelligence service that she also did not name, to threaten national peace and security.
Dr Matlanyane made the astounding revelations during her delivery of the mid-term budget statement for the financial year 2023-2024.
According to Dr Matlanyane, Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s government had initiated measures to neutralize the threats by the “hostile actors” by establishing a counter-terrorism unit.
“Subversive activities by Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) have been uncovered and measures have been taken to address these concerns,” Dr Matlanyane said.
She said that the country’s Cyber Command Unit (CCU) had proactively detected and thwarted malicious cyber activities, leading to arrests and a substantial reduction in criminal activities.
While Dr Matlanyane did not reveal exact details of the local elements involved with the Foreign Hostile Intelligence Service (FHIS), in a December 2022 interview with the Lesotho Times, Lesotho Defence Force (LDF)’s Major-General Ramanka Mokaloba disclosed that Lesotho passports had been found during a raid of an insurgents’ camp by members of the LDF deployed in the war-torn Carbo Delgado in Mozambique, under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Major Gen. Mokaloba, said the possession of Lesotho passports by the insurgents, along with those of other countries in the SADC posed a serious security risk as it meant the extremists entered Lesotho and the other countries and left as they pleased.
Still, it is not clear if the minister could have been referring to the issues raised by Maj Gen. Mokaloba or some among opposition politicians who have been putting a spirited fight to try and oust the government in a no confidence motion.
Dr Matlanyane said the country would intensify the fight against corruption to ensure resources earmarked for development were not wasted.
The finance minister said in a bid to address widespread crime and murder cases in the country, the government had deployed troops across Lesotho and allocated vehicles to police officers to “increase their visibility and enable them to respond to crime scenes quickly”.
She said due to the government’s concerted efforts to combat crime, a significant reduction in reported crime cases had been recorded.
However, Dr Matlanyane said that despite these milestones, Lesotho’s economic progress remained under threat due to rampant corruption.
The government had developed an action plan to fight corruption and money laundering with the help of the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), she said.
She said Lesotho had deployed its fourth cohort of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) to Mozambique as part of SADC’s mission to help Mozambique contain the volatile situation in the Cabo Delgado region.
