’Marafaele Mohloboli
THE main ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC) and Democratic Congress (DC) parties are livid with their junior ally, Machesetsa Mofomobe, of the Basotho National Party (BNP).
This after the BNP leader, who is also the Minister of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing, used his weekend rally in Khubetsoana, Berea to belittle and ridicule his senior coalition partners.
The motor-mouthed Mr Mofomobe accused DC leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu of hypocrisy, saying now that he was in government, he had become silent on the issue of police brutality.
Before joining government in May 2020, Mr Mokhothu used to keep count on the statistics of alleged police brutality, Mr Mofomobe charged.
He also accused Mr Mokhothu of leading the unpopular campaign to give legislators monthly fuel allowances of M5000 each.
“When Mokhothu was in opposition he used to count the number of people who have been killed by the police but now that he is in government and eating butter, he is quiet,” Mr Mofomobe told BNP supporters.
“He used to say that Basotho were hungry but today he has given MPs M5000 each for petrol allowances. If you make the mistake of voting these congress people in 2022, the doll on their tee shirts (Mokhothu) and his suckling, (Popular Front for Democracy (PFD leader Lekhetho) Rakuoane, will take power and you will be in trouble.”
Mr Mofomobe had no kind words for the ABC’s Kolonyama legislator and Defence and National Security Minister, Halebonoe Setšabi. He accused the minister of standing idly by while army commander, Mojalefa Letsoela, set up a commission of inquiry to prefer mutiny charges against soldiers who had sued the army for their alleged wrongful arrest and torture during the tenure of former army boss, Tlali Kamoli.
He alleged that Lieutenant General (Lt-Gen) Letsoela had appointed a commission exclusively composed of the allies of the detained murder and treason-accused Lt-Gen Tlali Kamoli.
The loquacious BNP leader also attacked ABC spokesperson Montoeli Masoetsa for allegedly meddling in BNP affairs. He said Mr Masoetsa and “his sandals and duck-toes should leave the BNP alone”.
He said his party would soon file a High Court application to be allowed to recall its former deputy leader, Joang Molapo, from parliament. Chief Molapo became a proportional representation (PR) legislator on a BNP ticket in the wake of the 3 June 2017 elections. However, he dumped the party to join the Monyane Moleleki-led Alliance of Democrats (AD) in July 2020. The BNP failed in its efforts to recall him after the Speaker of the National Assembly, Sephiri Motanyane, said there were no legal provisions to support his recall.
“We shall submit all the relevant documents and audios to prove that Chief Molapo has defected to the rotten Machache tree,” Mr Mofomobe said. This was in reference to Mr Moleleki who represents the Machache constituency in parliament.
The garrulous Mr Mofomobe also said his party would not support the plot to topple Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro because the motion is being pushed by those who are bent on protecting the interests of former First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane and her allies. Ms Thabane is the controversial wife of ABC leader and former premier Thomas Thabane. The motion is being sponsored by Mokhotlong legislator, Tefo Mapesela. Mr Mapesela dumped the ABC in April this year to form his own Basotho Patriotic Party (BPP).
Contacted for comment, Mr Masoetsa said they had resolved to ask Mr Mofomobe to explain his utterances. He said the ABC was surprised by the BNP leaders’ utterances when it had been benevolent enough to include his party in government.
“My party has decided to write to him and formally ask him to explain his utterances. Therefore, I will not comment further until this matter has been officially dealt with,” Mr Masoetsa said.
PFD leader, Advocate Rakuoane, who is also Law and Justice minister, declined to comment.
Meanwhile, DC spokesperson and Mining Minister, Serialong Qoo, has demanded a public apology from Mr Mofomobe for his “filthy utterances”.
“It is quite disheartening for a whole leader of a party to make such filthy utterances concerning his colleagues who he gets to sit with in cabinet. The leader (Mokhothu) is his colleague and yet he is belittling and ridiculing him like that. They are both part of the governing coalition and they make decisions together.
“How could he say those things? He should be ashamed of himself and apologise to everyone he has slandered. I believe that he is mentally challenged and probably wasn’t thinking straight when he said all those things.
“He has a serious mental problem, I guess. He seems to have totally forgotten that he is a party leader and he is now embarrassing himself. How will he sit at the same table with his colleagues who he has slandered? He should introspect,” Mr Qoo said.
He said he could have given Mr Mofomobe a piece of his mind but had refrained from doing so because that would be stooping as low as the BNP leader had done. However, he cautioned Mr Mofomobe to tread carefully.
AD spokesperson Thuso Litjobo also blasted Mr Mofomobe for his baseless and unwarranted attacks on AD leader Mr Moleleki.
“He has stooped very low by referring to our leader as a rotten tree. This is even lower than when he was the BNP youth league leader and party spokesperson. He (Mofomobe) is quite petty and we are not going to retrieve him from the abyss that he has dug himself into. He is still immature.
“We feel sorry for him because his own party members will humble him by ditching the party as they are doing. They are leaving one by one. He will not even be able to walk down Kingsway Street without being laughed at. He has stooped to the lowest levels,” Mr Litjobo said.
LDF spokesperson, Captain Sakeng Lekola, referred all questions to Defence Minister Setšabi who was not reachable for comment yesterday.
