Pascalinah Kabi
DEPUTY Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu says he attended the funeral of former prime minister Metsing Lekhanya to represent the government in line with a cabinet resolution since the event was a state funeral.
Because of Major General Lekhanya’s profile and place in the history of Lesotho, it would have been irresponsible for the government not to be represented at his funeral, especially after it had designated it as a state funeral, said the DPM.
DPM Mokhothu spoke in response to calls by three prominent youths activists and social media users to have him and other ministers who attended the event at Ratjomose Barracks prosecuted for violating Covid-19 restrictions. Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro had announced just a day before the Major General Lekhanya’s funeral fresh regulations limiting attendances at funerals to 20 people comprising of 10 relatives and 10 others responsible for digging the grave.
Mr Mokhothu said Major General Lekhanya was a key historical figure and it would have been remiss for the government not to be represented. It was thus unfair to try and target him for merely fulfilling a state duty in line with a cabinet resolution.
Mr Mokhothu attended the funeral last Thursday along with ministers Motlalentoa Letsosa (Home Affairs), Thesele Maseribane (Communications, Science and Technology), Prince Maliehe (Defence and National Security).
Principal secretaries Tumelo Raboletsi (Home Affairs) and ‘Mamonyane Bohloko (Defence) as well as the Speaker of National Assembly, Sephiri Motanyane, were also in attendance. Maj-Gen Lekhanya, who led the 1986 military coup against then Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan, died on 20 January 2021 at the age of 83. His wife, Sohpia, died a day later. The two were buried side by side.
While Mr Mokhothu’s point that Major-General Lekhanya was a historical figure requiring the government to be represented at his funeral seems valid, it has not stopped social media users and three youth activists from demanding that he be disciplined for “violating” Covid-19 regulations.
The three activists Taeke Thuso, Sibongile Mapikitla and Maele ‘Neko have written to Dr Majoro demanding that the premier disciplines Mr Mokhothu and other government officials who attended the funeral, which was live streamed on Facebook and which appeared to have a sizeable crowd.
“We are aware that an illegal act was committed at the state funeral of former army commander Major General Lekhanya at Ratjomose Barracks on 28 January this year, whereby the deputy prime minister, ministers and members of the security forces attended the funeral in numbers (sic).
“The funeral was broadcast live on Facebook, enabling us to see that more than 20 people attended the funeral.
“Public health regulations state that as part of preventing new (Covid-19) infections…the number of mourners must not exceed 20 (ten family members and ten men digging the grave).
“We humbly wish to bring to your attention that we are really concerned that the deputy prime minister, a number of ministers and all who physically attended the funeral contravened these regulations. We therefore request that you take necessary disciplinary action against all who physically attended the funeral,” the three wrote, adding that when leaders violate the regulations they themselves put in place, then the rest of the people would not be obliged to follow them.
“We wonder if Lesotho as a nation has similarities of the Animal Farm (sic) where ‘all animals are the same but some are more equal than others’. Are public health regulations expected to only selectively apply to a certain group of people?” the three activists wrote.
The said other Basotho were not able to attend funerals of their loved ones.
For instance, on the same day Maj-Gen Lekhanya was being buried, Roman Catholic Church Father Gabriel Masooana Tlaba, a respected cleric, was also being buried but in the absence of most of those who would have liked to attend the funeral, the activists said while threatening legal action unless Dr Majoro acted.
But DPM Mokhothu said the criticism against him was misconstrued, unfortunate and unwarranted. He had only attended the funeral in line with a cabinet resolution for the government to be represented as this was a state funeral. It was unfortunate that he was also being singled out despite attending with several other government officials.
“Surely, that is not a story,” Mr Mokhothu said.
He chastised his critics whom he said were now in the business of wanting to take every inane opportunity to besmirch his name. If at all there was any validity to this criticism, then why were the critics only mentioning him instead of venting their fury on the entire cabinet which had mandated him and others to attend the funerals? he asked.
“Why is the focus of this document on me?” DPM Mokhothu said referring to written questions the Lesotho Times had sent him.
“I went there on a cabinet decision as it was a state funeral. So, whoever questions my presence should question the government not me in my personal capacity,” Mr Mokhothu said.
“The Speaker of the National Assembly was there representing parliament, ministers Prince Maliehe, Thesele Maseribane and Letsosa were there. So why is the focus on me?
“This is why I said this is not a story, especially when it is being written by you. Have you interviewed all those high-ranking people who were there? Whoever is behind the story is missing the point,” Mr Mokhothu said.
Contacted for comment, Minister Maliehe said he attended the funeral in his capacity as Defence and National Security minister.
“Maj-Gen Lekhanya was army commander and the army directly falls under my ministry. This means I had to be one of the ten people attending the funeral as per the regulations,” Mr Maliehe said.
On his part, Mr Motanyane says he could not comment on the youths’ letter as it was addressed to Dr Majoro, not him.
Mr Letsosa said he attended the funeral in his capacity as the minister in charge of the home affairs ministry which organises state funerals.
“It was an official funeral and I went there in my capacity as a minister responsible for organising the funeral. I wanted to ensure that things go smoothly.
“This was a state funeral and it means the family was not really involved in the preparations of that funeral,” Mr Letsosa said.
PS Bohloko directed all questions to Mr Raboletsi “as the PS whose ministry was in charge of organising the state funeral”.
Chief Maseribane and PS Raboletsi’s mobile phones rang unanswered.
