Foreign and International Affairs Minister Lesego Makgothi
’Marafaele Mohloboli
THE government has refuted allegations it requested the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to intervene militarily in Lesotho in the event of resistance by the security sector in the implementation of multi-sectoral reforms.
Foreign Affairs and International Relations Minister Lesego Makgothi told the Lesotho Times the government had not requested a military force during the SADC Double Troika Summit, held over the weekend.
He said Lesotho had asked for the addition of some senior military officials from the SADC region to the Oversight Committee to monitor the security situation during the implementation of reforms.
Lesotho topped the agenda of the 37th Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government held in Pretoria, South Africa in light of recent political and security challenges in the Mountain Kingdom.
The Mountain Kingdom held National Assembly elections on 3 June 2017 after a second government in a row failed to last the distance.
The Pakalitha Mosisili-led government came to a premature end after successful 1 March 2017 parliamentary no-confidence vote — having served just two years of its five-year term.
Dr Mosisili’s seven-party alliance could only muster 47 seats combined in the elections, which was well short of the 61-seat threshold required to form government in the 120-seat National Assembly.
In its place was installed a four-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Thomas Thabane.
The elections had temporarily halted the reforms process Lesotho had embarked on in 2016 at the instigation of SADC.
The reforms encompass the security, constitutional, security, media and public sectors with the objective of attaining lasting peace and stability.
In its summit communique, SADC urged the Dr Thabane-led government to expedite the implementation of all SADC decisions.
The bloc also urged the government to develop and submit a roadmap on the implementation of SADC decisions with “concrete, clear milestones, and deliverables and report progress” at the next meeting of the Double Troika Summit set to be held before November 2017.
The summit also extended the tenure of the Oversight Committee for an indefinite period. The 10-member Oversight Committee was established in July 2015 to serve as an early warning mechanism for instability in Lesotho and to monitor the implementation of SADC decisions.
The SADC summit also called for Lesotho to convene a national multi-stakeholder dialogue “expeditiously”, with the bloc expecting a progress report during the next summit.
The multi-stakeholder national dialogue is meant to create a framework for implementing security, constitutional, media and public service reforms.
Mr Makgothi had told the South African Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday that Lesotho asked for the Oversight Committee to be “beefed up” by high-ranking army officials from the region.
“. . . this is to ensure that when we have put all those recommendations into place, we don’t have resistance,” he said.
“If there is resistance, then SADC would have a clear picture of what is happening. If we encounter an impasse, we can then go back to SADC with them knowing the situation on the ground.”
However, the remarks were interpreted by some to mean the government had asked for a military force to be stationed in Lesotho during the implementation of the reforms.
Mr Makgothi said the request was for a few military officials who would only monitor the security situation during the implementation of reforms.
“When we called for the beefing up of the Oversight Committee, we did not ask for a military invasion by South Africa as misconstrued by some people,” he said.
“If we fail to produce a clear road map or fail to implement the SADC decisions, we will be testing the patience of SADC. We have no option but to implement all the SADC recommendations.”
The minister said the period since the 3 June 2017 elections had been relatively calm, with preparations underway for the implementation of the reforms.
“There will soon be a national dialogue in which all stakeholders will participate,” he said.
