BASOTHO National Party (BNP) leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe, says he has been harassed by state agencies in a long-drawn-out opposition-government power battle, because of his primary role in instigating a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Sam Matekane and his government.
In a recent one-on-one with the Lesotho Times Mr Mofomobe said his being Mr Matekane’s most daring opponent from when he (Matekane) joined politics in March 2022, meant he had become a target of the premier. In May last year, National Security Service (NSS) agents tried to confiscate Mr Mofomobe’s mobile phones, claiming they contained information that could help them (NSS) with their criminal investigations. The courts have since outlawed legislation empowering the prime minister and intelligence agencies to seize citizens’ communications gadgets.
The police also raided Mr Mofomobe’s home, claiming he had an illegal 9mm firearm, suspected to have been used in the murder of a party member during the BNP elective conference in Mazenod in 2021.
The Lesotho Times (LT)’s Political Reporter, Mohloai Mpesi, had a one-on-one interview with Mr Mofomobe on the intricacies of Lesotho’s political landscape and his entanglement in controversies involving security agencies.
Below are excerpts of the interview:
LT: To begin with you were raided by the police’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) on suspicions that you might be in possession of a firearm used in a murder. What do you make of the raid and how do you relate it to politics, considering you have been a very vocal opponent of the government?
Mofomobe: It’s politics. African politics are about power and the moment you shake that power, you become target of the authorities. Once you touch on power, they will definitely come after you and at least in my case we can refer back to incidents that happened during the reign of Dr Pakalitha Mosisili when I became a target.
I was harassed, arrested, insulted and my life threatened. So, at least I know, and I can’t be surprised right now. It happened in Zimbabwe where Morgan Richard Tsvangirai was beaten to a pulp. It happened to Hakainde Hichilema in Zambia and a lot of other countries in Africa. It is a trademark of African politics.
This time around I was brave enough to propose a motion of no confidence on the prime minister. I touched a nerve at the heart of the centre of power in Lesotho…..
If you can go back and look at the behaviour of the heads of the military during the times of Mr Mosisili, it is exactly like that…It is perhaps even worse now with army commander, Lt-Gen Mojalefa Letsoela and Mr Matekane. At least, Dr Motsoahae Thabane was brave enough to arrest Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) officers who were suspected of destructing peace and refusing to obey the constitutional order and subjecting themselves to civilian authority. That Thabane ensured that they were held to account for their crimes, acted as a deterrence for some time. That is why Lt-Gen Letsoela behaved well during former Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro’s regime. This is unlike now wherein Matekane dresses in military attire. We never allowed Majoro to dress up in military attire and he was not interested either because he was smart enough.
Now he (Letsoela) has found a vacuum of someone who does not understand his power and superiority of civilian authorities over the army. So, he (Matekane) is now controlled by the army. I want to believe there are things that the current prime minister can’t do and decisions he cannot make before he consults the army commander.
The army commander has become Premier Matekane’s darling to the extent that former premiers are criticised. It has been said that the past regimes were not better than the current. So, now Mr Matekane has become their (army) darling and anybody who touches their darling will be dealt with.
It’s no longer a question of when the contracts of the three security chiefs, Lt-Gen Letsoela, Commissioner of Police Holomo Molibeli and National Security Service (NSS) chief, Pheello Ralenkoane, will expire. Rather, it is a question of when they will be renewed. That’s if they have not been renewed already. It would seem, that these ones, just because they have vowed to protect the ‘queen mother’, they will get special treatment.
LT: Tell us about the police raid that was made at your home.
Mofomobe: I always say that those who undermine my intelligence, it is because they don’t know me. When this thing was planned, I came to know that they had decided that because I interfere with their regime, I must be dealt with. They took the docket of the Mazenod murder incident that happened during the elective conference of the BNP. I got to know that the 9mm shells were taken, that is why the first call I got from the police was “come with your 9mm gun.”
Sepoko se ile sa ba lahla (they were misled by the night owl). I say this because the police are the custodian and authority that issue guns. They should have extracted from their database what kind of guns I have. Instead, they allowed themselves to think I have a 9mm.
When you are trying to frame someone, there is a lot of things involved. They should have considered the ballistic science and circumstances. Remember the person who was shot was sitting right behind me in the hall, and I might have been the target.
So, they were trying to frame me, but it was not going to happen because of gun science. The guns that I have been given lawfully do not fall in that category.
Remember that at the time that woman was shot, I was pushing for former BNP leader Thesele Maseribane to vacate office as his two constitutionally prescribed five-year terms of office had lapsed. But his followers wanted him to have a third term at the helm of the BNP. I had to insist that the conference continue despite that woman’s death because had I not, it would have been to their advantage…
So, even today one of my drivers was summoned to the police station and I told him to go because I have nothing to hide. Go back and investigate if I have ever been convicted of anything. I’ve never been convicted of even a traffic offence, gender-based violence, battering, rape, or murder. On my Facebook social media page, I address a host of issues and advocate for clean, ethical and democratic governance.
They have tried to employ petty tricks to implicate me with the murder of Ralikonelo Joki (slain Ts’enolo FM presenter) but nothing came of it. So, there are always those attempts to taint my name.
LT: Would you say instigating the no-confidence vote against PM Matekane could be at the heart of threats to your life and attempts to have you arrested…..?
Mofomobe: All these things are happening because the government and all those who form the premier’s inner circle feel intimidated and scared that they might lose power through the no-confidence vote. Unfortunately, I am not easily intimidated. I have seen so much in my life and when I strongly believe that something is right, I even put my life on the line for it.
One day Lt-Gen Letsoela called someone and said, “we will not allow this regime to be toppled, this government will not be overthrown.” I had always known that it was only going to be a matter of time before he embarrasses himself by going public with his patently illegal statement and demonstrating that he has no respect for the constitution. And that is exactly what he did….
LT: Yes, Lt-Gen Letsoela made a joint statement with the Commissioner of Police and Director-General NSS to the same effect…?
Mofomobe: It is an indication that the government is fighting back. But my conviction remains that in this political sphere, once your legitimacy is questioned, you will not enjoy the legitimacy you claim to have until it is tested on a relevant platform, which is parliament. There is still that question of whether Premier Matekane controls majority numbers in parliament as per the constitution.
That has not been tested because he was prime minister, legitimately so, until he decided (on September 30th)to expel three MPs from his party. Not to mention that earlier, the very three members voted with opposition in parliament. By so doing, his legitimacy was tested… We need to go back to parliament and test his powers.
It means that until parliament resumes, I am still going to experience these unfortunate incidents. But, throughout the years I have learnt many golden lessons. I remember when I was 19 years old, there was a Court of Disputed Returns where BNP filed a case that challenged the 1993 elections results. I was ordered by the police to strip naked, in the middle of town, as they suspected that I had dangerous weapons with me. I will never forget that humiliation and it tells me that it was foretelling my life’s destiny. Look where I am today. Still being harassed and humiliated for speaking truth to power. I’ve known that kind of pain since I was still very young. It all has strengthened me to have a bold heart. I am not easily scared.
LT: Looking back at the series of events that have unfolded in the political sphere recently wherein the leader of Socialist Revolutionaries (SR Advocate Teboho Mojapela was briefly arrested, your house was raided by the police as well as the withdrawal of bodyguards for the leader of opposition Mr Mathibeli Mokhothu, what picture would you draw on this sequence of events?
Mofomobe: It happened to me what happened to Mokhothu. I was still a cabinet minister then, when one day I went on radio to talk about my dissatisfaction with the army. The following day my bodyguards were withdrawn, Letsoela withdrew my bodyguards both at home and those assigned for my personal security. I sent him (Lt-Gen Letsoela) a message, that it was treasonous what he did, and disrespectful to civilian authority.
So, the withdrawal of Mokhothu’s bodyguards came as a result of him saying that government was in bed with the army. The second ground that triggered this is because Mr Mokhothu talked about the behaviour of security forces at a recent DC rally.
This simply says the prime minister is not in control, because if he was, he ought to have openly reprimanded or fired Letsoela. But for the fact that he (Letsoela) is the darling of the executive and vice versa, that will not happen. He (Letsoela) will do as he pleases.
The fact that he (Matekane) is keeping him indicates that he doesn’t understand things. He is afraid. And they are friends. He (Letsoela) is misbehaving with the PM’s consent.
LT: Some allege that the Prime Minister’s donations to the army before he became premier could be influencing the soldiers to support him. Is that a fair assessment?
Mofomobe: I think there has to be some form of rules to regulate who can donate what to state institutions. While donating to hospitals is understandable, there are other very sensitive institutions of government like the police and the army. Once you allow a private businessman who happens to be a politician now to donate to them, it simply says allegiance of those institutions will simply tilt towards that donating politician.
Sometimes government is not able to buy uniform because of lack of funds and the moment he does something that the government doesn’t have the capacity to do, that person becomes bigger than the government and the allegiance of those that he donated to goes to him.
So, Letsoela is trying to say he is bigger than the constitution and premier is allowing it. The problem with these things is that there is a time when the Prime Minister will not be able to do things that Letsoela wants. And there will be a time when Ntate Matekane will regret ever allowing his relationship to blossom to uncontrollable proportions.
