’Marafaele Mohloboli
BASOTHO Action Party leader (BAP), Nqosa Mahao, says plans are afoot to interdict the government from hiring its supporters for jobs in various poverty alleviation projects under a youth apprenticeship programme cross the country.
The government is set to begin implementing the projects on July 1 2023 and Professor Mahao is adamant that the timing is aimed at buying votes ahead of the local government elections slated for 29 September this year.
The projects are meant to benefit youths in the various districts across the country.
Prof Mahao read a document at a press conference this week which he claimed was proof that jobs under the public works programme would be dished to youths from parties comprising the current coalition government only.
Dismissing Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s coalition government as a “coalition of corruption”, Prof Mahao said he had already instructed his party’s lawyers to petition the courts to set aside the government’s “unlawful” acts.
He also called upon the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to intervene and stop the projects ranging from road rehabilitation to community water projects from being implemented or face court action as well.
He accused the RFP of cheating Basotho into making them believe that it would end the allocation of jobs on the basis of political affiliations. It was doing exactly the opposite.
He read a document which he said proved the decision to allocate about 904 jobs in the poverty alleviation projects to youths from parties in the coalition government and others supporting it. According to this document the RFP would be taking a lion’s share of the jobs with 676 jobs. Professor Ntoi Rapapa’s Alliance of Democrats (AD) would get 96 with, Selibe Mochoboroane’s Movement for Economic Change (MEC) getting 90. Others would be shared among other smaller parties supporting the government.
“You will therefore all realize that these have been politically allocated because there are no parties in opposition which have benefited,” said Prof. Mahao.
“This decision is in direct violation of Section 18 (2)(3) of Lesotho’s constitution that states that no one should be discriminated against based on their political affiliation… This means that a Mosotho youth in the village who is not a member of this ‘partners in corruption’ coalition has been discriminated against even if they qualify to get the jobs.”
He said this all proved the lies behind the RFP’s rhetoric of building a “meritocracy”.
Contacted for comment RFP spokesperson Mr Mokhethi Shelile said Prof Mahao’s accusations “are baseless and he is only seeking political relevance”.
“Voters have outrightly rejected him because they were not convinced that his party would give them anything. He is not telling the truth and does not know what he is talking about. All youths regardless of their political affiliations are going to benefit,” Mr Shelile said.
