Billy Ntaote
THE United States government says Lesotho will need to step up implementation of set governance benchmarks to be eligible for a second multi-million dollar compact grant under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
In an exclusive interview with the Lesotho Times this week, MCC Managing Director of Selection and Eligibility, Christopher Maloney, and Managing Director for Operations in Africa, Jason Small, acknowledged the efforts the government has made in addressing some of the benchmarks including removing Lieutenant-General Tlali Kamoli from the helm of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF).
However, the MCC officials – who were in Lesotho for a three-day visit that ended on Tuesday – bemoaned the lack of progress in investigations into the killing of former LDF commander Maaparankoe Mahao and the continued detention of soldiers accused of mutiny.
The 23 soldiers were arrested between May and June 2015 for allegedly plotting to violently remove the LDF command. Sixteen of them had been subsequently released from Maseru Maximum Security Prison and placed under open arrest, which is a form of bail in the military. The other seven were released yesterday and also placed under open arrest.
The Americans stressed that regardless of who was in government, their expectation was for the reforms to be implemented and the observance of good governance, accountability and rule of law.
The MCC is a bilateral American foreign aid agency established by the United States Congress in 2004, with beneficiary countries expected to meet certain conditions such as good governance and respect for the rule of law to qualify.
In 2007, the MCC and Lesotho signed the first $362.6 million (over M3 billion) compact to reduce poverty and spur economic growth.
The five-year compact among others, helped fund the construction of Metolong Dam, as well as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to mitigate the negative economic impact of poor maternal health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.
Lesotho was supposed to receive its second compact last year, but on 16 December 2015, the MCC Board decided not to vote on the issue citing governance concerns, particularly after the killing of former army chief Mahao.
In December 2016, the MCC Board again deferred a vote on the reselection of Lesotho for a second compact “until governance concerns have been addressed”. A determination on Lesotho’s eligibility for a second MCC compact was scheduled for this month.
However, Lesotho may get a reprieve given that the US government is still in transition and the reconstituted MCC board will be meeting for the first time later this month.
Lesotho’s largest development partner has consistently underscored that the country would only receive a second MCC compact and continue to benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) after taking “concrete actions” that address concerns about “impunity and the rule of law” as well as implementing recommendations made by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Commission of Inquiry.
AGOA accords duty-free treatment to products exported by beneficiary sub-Saharan countries to the United States including Lesotho.
The Mountain Kingdom’s textile and garment industry, which is anchored on AGOA, employs more than 40 000 people, in addition to other downstream sectors. Maseru was also given a March 2017 deadline to address AGOA eligibility concerns lest the country loses out during an “out-of-cycle” review.
The benchmarks include implementation of SADC Commission of Inquiry recommendations such as probing the circumstances surrounding the death of former LDF chief Mahao, security sector reforms and facilitating an amnesty for the detained mutiny suspects among others.
The former army chief was shot dead as he left his Mokema farm on 25 June 2015 by soldiers who said they had come to arrest him for being the ringleader of a plot to overthrow the LDF leadership. However, the Mahao family has accused the army of killing him in cold blood basing on the account of his nephews who were with him during the incident.
After the killing, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili asked SADC to probe the incident, with the inquiry carrying out its investigations between 31 August and 23 October 2015.
The Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi-led commission made a number of recommendations, including the dismissal of Lt-Gen Kamoli, suspension of LDF officers implicated in cases of murder, attempted murder and treason while investigations into the allegations proceeded in line with international best practice.
Accompanied by US Ambassador to Lesotho, Mathew Harrington, the MCC officials met Dr Mosisili and senior government officials as well as members of opposition parties, diplomatic community and civil society organisations.
The visit was meant to assess Lesotho’s progress in the implementation of reforms ahead of the MCC board of directors meeting.
“Our visit was meant to witness what has evolved since December, and to clarify the December decision (to defer a vote on Lesotho’s reselection),” said Mr Maloney.
“We also wanted to get a sense of how likely the other recommendations will be implemented, such as the release of detained soldiers and the investigation into the death of general Mahao.”
Mr Maloney said the MCC board had been “encouraged” by the government’s decision to retire Lt-Gen Kamoli.
“At the top level, I think we are encouraged. But there is still much work to be done,” he said.
“Our board was much encouraged to see the big step to retire general Kamoli; we recognise that was very difficult and we recognise that it was a good thing but not an easy decision.”
However, the Americans reiterated their concern over the Amnesty Bill, 2016 which is meant to grant members of the security sector a blanket amnesty for offences committed between January 2007 and December 2015. In its current form, the bill would extend to members of the LDF whom the SADC Commission of Inquiry had recommended should face prosecution.
Mr Maloney indicated that in their meetings with government officials, they stressed the need for government to release the detained soldiers, institute a probe into Lt-Gen Mahao’s killing and address the broadness of the Amnesty Bill of 2016.
“There is little discernible progress in the investigation into general Mahao’s death,” he said.
“When we last looked at the Amnesty Bill, it was very broad in scope and frankly speaking, very lopsided. In its current form, the bill may preclude the implementation of important reforms.”
The MCC board, Mr Maloney said, would be closely watching developments in the country and assessing progress in addressing the concerns.
“We are very much in a hopeful posture on Lesotho, and we will be closely watching what would be happening in the coming months.
“It may also be complicated by what is happening in parliament with a potential change of government and many different scenarios.”
He said regardless of who was in government, their expectation was for the reforms to be implemented and the observance of good governance, accountability and rule of law.
“I want to draw a clear distinction between normal political democratic transition and the actual rule of law and accountability concerns.
“It does not matter which government is in place, at the end of the day these concerns need to be addressed. So, we will focus on the short-term and long-term developments with that in mind.”
Mr Maloney said Lesotho’s MCC fate was likely to be decided in the coming months due to the political transition in Washington.
“The MCC board meets on a quarterly basis in March, June, September and December of each year. The normal time for the MCC board to be looking at eligibility concerns is December of each year.
“Other than that, we are in a transition period and the MCC board is being reconstituted. It consists of members of the private and public sector, the Secretary of State (Rex Tillerson), USTR (United States Trade Representative) and USAID (United States Agency for International Development).
He added: “When the board meets in March, it will be first time they will be meeting and they will certainly discuss Lesotho. But I don’t know what they will decide and I can certainly say that between now and December, there will be a lot of things that will be going on in Lesotho. When the board reaches a point of making a decision either way, they will certainly make that decision.”
Asked why the US government insisted on governance benchmarks for beneficiaries of their developmental aid, Mr Maloney said such support could only be useful when policy conditions in a country are supportive of long-term economic growth.
“If you have governance issues that are going to affect the political stability and the long-term economic growth policy conditions of a country, we have a challenge.
“Issues like accountability and rule of law are critical in ensuring the political stability of our potential partner. If they are not in place, we are afraid that the long-term sustainability of our investments will be called into question.”
He said the eligibility criteria for the second compact would be more stringent than the first, with particular focus on observance of political rights, civil liberties, control of corruption and sound economic policies.
Lesotho’s second compact is meant to unlock equitable and sustainable economic growth in partnership with the private sector. Among the identified areas of potential investment are health, job skills, land, and the regulatory environment.
“Lesotho is a second compact country, and we have a higher bar for second compact eligibility which hinges on improved policy performance,” Mr Maloney said.
“We are looking at the Lesotho we initially partnered with (in 2007) and the Lesotho we are a partner with today.
“We ask ourselves whether the commitment of that country to issues like political rights, civil liberties, control of corruption and economic policy are the same or ideally even better to when we originally began the partnership. That’s the high level we are looking at.
“In Lesotho’s case, there are concerns that there has been a decline in issues like rule of law, civil liberties, media freedom and things like that.”
When asked about MCC’s future in light of US President Donald Trump’s proposed reduction of foreign aid, Mr Maloney acknowledged there was some level of uncertainty since the country was still in a transition.
However, the MCC Managing Director of Selection and Eligibility also pointed out that the facility enjoyed bipartisan support in the US Congress.
“It was created under president (George W) Bush’s administration and, since the MCC’s founding in 2004, our mission has remained the same; whether under president Bush or president (Barack) Obama and now under President Trump,” he said.
“We remain very hopeful that this support will continue and we will be working with the new administration.”
Ambassador Harrington chipped in saying other programmes that enjoyed bipartisan support in the US Congress were PEPFAR and AGOA.
“Beyond MCC, PEPFAR and AGOA are the other programmes that have also enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the US Congress. At the confirmation hearing of our Secretary of State (Mr Tillerson), he spoke about programmes that have made an impact across the world and included PEPFAR among them,” added Ambassador Harrington.
