…says party facelift critical for its survival
Mohloai Mpesi and Moroke Sekoboto
ALL Basotho Convention (ABC) leader, Nkaku Kabi, says he is pinning his hopes on the party’s newly elected national executive committee (NEC) to revitalise the once mighty but now fallen behemoth.
He trusts that the new committee possesses the magic to help the almost sixteen-year-old ABC, rise from the dust to reclaim its glory days.
Mr Kabi believes that the new faces in the NEC, will play a crucial role in restoring the tattered image of the party. He is confident that the new NEC will help win back the hearts of all members who abandoned the party ahead of the October 7, 2022, general elections.
“I must accept the decision that the ABC followers have made. I am satisfied with their decision because I am their servant. The expectation is that we must work hand in hand with the new committee, to rebuild the party, which I believe we will achieve very easily,” Mr Kabi said.
“We have worked very well with the previous committee, and the new committee’s mandate is only to carry on with the work that was left by the previous committee. That is, to ensure that we accumulate membership cards for ABC members and those who would be interested in our strategies. We will make our strategic plan public soon on how we plan to go forward from here.”
Mr Kabi spoke to the Lesotho Times yesterday, after the ABC’s elective indaba at Leqele High School in Maseru at the weekend.
The new committee is comprised of Samonyane Ntsekele (deputy leader), Thebe Mokoatle (secretary-general), Tṧolo Khechane (deputy secretary general), Kemiso Mosenene (chairperson), Lebakeng Mpana (deputy chairperson), Thobileng Teboho (treasurer), Mphonyane Lebesa (spokesperson), Tṧeliso Lerata (deputy spokesperson), Likonelo Mothala (publicity secretary).
Mr Kabi was elected ABC leader in early 2022 and led the party to the October 2022 polls where it performed dismally.
ABC fell from grace that year, from winning 48 constituencies and 3 proportional representation (PR) seats in the June 2017 elections, to obtaining a mere eight compensatory seats and not a single constituency seat.
The ABC’s internal strife contributed to the party’s downfall. Its 2019 power squabbles ripped the party into pieces, with two major factions emerging.
One faction was led by Professor Nqosa Mahao, who would later in 2021 form his own Basotho Action Party (BAP). BAP is now partner in Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s seven-party coalition government. The other was led by party leader Thomas Thabane before he was succeeded by Moeketsi Majoro.
The new committee members will have to put their shoulders to the wheel, to regain supporters who jumped ship to join other parties.
Scores of popular members of the ABC would in March 2022, join Mr Matekane’s Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) when it was unveiled that same month.
Asked whether he believed the new faces would help to rejuvenate the party, Mr Kabi claimed that was already happening as some ABC members who had deserted the party, were beginning to return to its fold.
“The idea of new faces has already helped this party because most of our party members, who had deserted the party have returned to report that they are now coming back home,” Mr Kabi said.
“They said they trust in these new faces. We will see when we start working how many numbers we will accumulate. We are yet to refurbish committee-branches and constituencies. That will give us a good picture of our party.
“We are reshaping the party to bring back its integrity and image.”
Meet the ABC new committee…
Deputy leader -Samonyane Ntsekele
Mr Ntsekele is the former ABC secretary general, who essentially held the fort as the leader, when founding leader and former Prime Minister Motsoahae Thabane, went into exile in South Africa at the height of Lesotho’s political instability between 2015 to 2017. He defeated former Government Secretary (GS) Moahloli Mphaka to clinch the coveted post.
Secretary general – Thebe Mokoatle
In the fight for the secretary-general post, Mr Mokoatle defeated Malefetsane Nchaka and the outgoing secretary general Lebohang Hlaele. Mr Mokoatle had served as the Principal Secretary in the Ministries of Health and that of Trade and Industry. He has chaired the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) board and served as a Research Specialist at the Lesotho Revenue Authority (now Revenue Services Lesotho).
Chairperson – Kemiso Mosenene
The new chairperson is Kemiso Mosenene, who defeated the outgoing chairman Chalane Phori. Mr Mosenene served as the deputy chairperson under Mr Phori in the outgoing NEC. He is a former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Minister of Water under Former Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro’s administration.
Treasurer – Teboho Thobileng
Treasurer is Teboho Thobileng who served as the chairperson of Matlakeng constituency.
Spokesperson – Mphonyane Lebesa
Spokesperson is Mphonyane Lebesa. Mr Lebesa has served in the ABC Youth League for two terms, he was a member of the 10th parliament in the Senate. The new deputy chairperson is Lebakeng Mpana.
Deputy chairperson-Lebakeng Mpana
Deputy secretary general- Tṧolo Khechane
Deputy secretary general- Tṧolo Khechane – has served the party as the chairperson of Maama Constituency and was a member of the Lesotho Students Convention (LESCO), a tertiary education organisation affiliated with the ABC.
Deputy Spokesperson – Ts’eliso Lerata
The deputy spokesperson is Ts’eliso Lerata who was a councillor under the ABC banner at the Teyateyaneng Urban Council.
Publicity secretary – Likonelo Mothala
Likonelo Mothala, the only female face in the new ABC NEC, is the party’s new publicity secretary. She in late 2017, left the main opposition Democratic Congress (DC) together with the Sekatles (Pontṧo and Semano Sekatle), who were the DC’s Qacha’s Nek and Lebakeng constituencies’ legislators respectively. She served as the ABC’s Lebakeng constituency secretary and represented her constituency in the party’s Qacha’s Nek district committee.
