Mohloai Mpesi
IT SEEMS the protracted national reforms process will remain deadlocked.
This after opposition parties this week exemplified serious indifference and general scorn to the government’s efforts to kickstart the reforms.
Minister of Justice and Law, Richard Ramoeletsi re-tabled the 10th Amendment to the constitution known as the Omnibus Bill in parliament this week.
The minister has however segmented the Omnibus Bill into three parts in terms of the majorities required to pass its provisions. He has split the Omnibus Bill into the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, 2024, containing provisions which require a simple majority of 61 MPs in the National Assembly, the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution Bill, 2024, comprising provisions which require a two thirds majority or 80 MPs to pass.
The Twelfth Amendment was not tabled. It is the one that will require double entrenched majorities and a national referendum to pass.
However, a referendum would be forgone should consensus on the double-entrenched provisions, be reached by the two houses of the legislature namely, the Senate and National Assembly, Mr Ramoeletsi said.
Still, the opposition signalled it will still not cooperate in the reforms process until its demands are met including the firing of army commander Mojalefa Letsoela.
The opposition also said the Omnibus Bill should not have been segregated while its appeal against the nullification of the 2020 Ninth Amendment to the Constitution by the Constitutional Court was still pending.
The case was instigated by ruling Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) Thaba-Moea constituency MP, Lejone Pusleletso, on October 16, 2023, just as Prime Minister Sam Matekane was about to be ousted in a no confidence motion.
Mr Puseletso challenged sections 83 (4) and 87 (5) of the constitution, which bar the prime minister from advising His Majesty the King, to dissolve parliament if he loses a no-confidence vote.
The Constitutional Court ruled in Mr Puseletso’s favour on 16 February this year, but the opposition in parliament went on to challenge the ruling in the apex court. The final judgment is pending.
The opposition said until its appeal is finalised, there should be no tabling or discussion of constitutional amendments under the reforms process.
The opposition said it was of the view that the environment for the reforms, will remain unconducive if army commander, Lt-Gen Mojalefa Letsoela, remained at the helm of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF).
They want Prime Minister Sam Matekane to give Lt-Gen Letsoela his marching orders.
Spokesperson of the opposition parties in parliament, Basotho National Party (BNP) leader Machesetsa Mofomobe, this week said Lt-Gen Letsoela should join former Commissioner of Police Holomo Molibeli and ex-National Security Service (NSS) boss, Pheello Ralenkoane, who went on retirement early this year.
Should the government ignore their demands, the opposition would continue to be indifferent to the reforms, Mr Mofomobe said.
Messrs Letsoela, Molibeli and Ralenkoane, infamously issued an intimidating statement on October 16 2023, ordering the opposition to abandon their no-confidence plot against Mr Matekane or face unspecified consequences.
The three security chiefs ordered opposition parties should return to parliament and focus on completing the national reforms.
The trio also vowed to protect Mr Matekane’s then ailing government from being toppled via a no confidence motion, which had seemed set to succeed.
Since then, the opposition have been adamant that they will not partake in the reforms unless the trio was removed from their posts. With Messrs Molibeli and Ralenkoane gone, the opposition insist that Mr Matekane should terminate Mr Letsoela’s services failing which they won’t cooperate in the reforms.
Messrs Molibeli and Ralenkoane have since been replaced with Acting Commissioner of Police, Mahlape Morai and Acting NSS Director-General, Lebohang Mafisa respectively.
Minister Ramoeletsi told a media briefing he convened shortly after tabling the segmented Bills that only God knew what would happen to the reforms now that the opposition remained defiant.
If Lt-Gen Letsoela remained at the helm of the army, Mr Mofomobe told the Lesotho Times “then the reforms will remain stillborn”.
The stalemate would remain in place until “the toxic Letsoela has been replaced,” he insisted.
“We have set the conditions that we can’t proceed with the reforms process with Mr Letsoela still the commander. He is toxic to the democratic environment,” Mr Mofomobe said.
According to Mr Mofomobe, they had wanted the government to fire the three security chiefs, leaving acting appointees until the reforms had been finalised.
“We told the government that if they indeed want the reforms to proceed, they should not appoint a substantive head at NSS, but only an acting director general,” Mr Mofomobe said.
“The same applies with the LMPS there should not be any substantive Commissioner of Police, only an acting COMPOL. Even with the LDF, there should be an acting commander, not a substantive until we have agreed on new criteria for their appointments.
“We are committed to the reforms process obviously. But it should not be a process that we should embark on blind-folded just because it is the reforms process,” Mr Mofomobe said.
“There is a lot of issues that must be addressed before there is a commitment from us.. Until the judgment of the appeal court is passed, that matter of the constitutional amendments is sub-judice. Remember, we can’t discuss or touch anything that is in the courts.
Mr Mofomobe said the Ninth Amendment, known as Kotopo, was still part of the Omnibus Bill and should therefore not be treated separately.
“You can’t single out a certain clause and take it out of the Omnibus Bill. It came as a package, as a Bill….,” Mr Mofomobe said.
He continued: “The other challenge is that the reforms process was made because of challenges in the security sector. Now, the security sector is out of control. Should we get into this process when the police and soldiers are behaving this bad? I don’t even want to talk about myself because when they feel like harassing me, they do so.”
Mr Ramoeletsi said, “I leave it to God” when asked about the opposition’s continued disinterest in cooperating in the reforms process.
“Basotho elected us to put this process to motion and pass the reforms. ….Whoever is elected as a Member of Parliament should do his or her responsibility to respond to the needs of the nation.”
He said that the government convened a reforms stakeholders’ meetings on the 21st of December 2023 including leaders of political parties, in and outside parliament, civic organisations, and development partners.
However, the opposition had boycotted the meeting.
“The government acknowledged and accepted the decision and direction provided by the Court of Appeal, and assured stakeholders of its intention to table the segregated Bills when parliament reopened,” Mr Ramoeletsi said.
“However, neither the Official Leader of Opposition in Parliament nor their representatives showed up at the meeting.”
Mr Ramoeletsi said the tabling of the segregated Omnibus Bill had been slated for February 2024, but there had been delays because of other Bills already with the Law and Public Safety Cluster Portfolio Committee that were under consideration.
“The government continued with the consultative meetings including holding a one-day induction and validation workshop for the legislative committee of the Senate and the National Assembly’s Law and Safety Cluster Portfolio Committee, together with chairpersons of the National Reforms Authority (NRA) Technical Committees on the 18th of March 2024,” Mr Ramoeletsi said.
“The purpose of the workshop was to induct the committees on the Bill and afford the chairpersons of NRA technical committees to validate them.”
Clauses in the segregated bills:
10th Amendment to the Constitution Bill, 2024 (simple majority clauses)
1. Provision for impeachment of Prime Minister.
2. Provision for floor-crossing after three years of the prescribed five-year life of parliament.
3. Provision for the establishment of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to which President of the Senate and Speaker of the National Assembly shall account.
4. DPP office to become the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
11th Amendment to the Constitution Bill (two-thirds majority clauses)
1. Seeks to amend Section 55 (Senate) to 33 members comprising 22 Principal Chiefs, one representative each from the following tribes: Bafokeng, Baphuthi, Matebele, Bathepu, as well as persons with disabilities, and six other members from various professions and sectors.
2. Seeks to amend Section 57 of the Constitution: that minimum threshold for a proportional representation seat allocation be half a percent of the total valid national votes cast.
3. Section 66: IEC shall be autonomous, not be subject to the control and direction of any person or authority, executing its mandate under the constitution. The IEC shall be accountable to the relevant portfolio committee of parliament.
4. SECTION 83: DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT: The King, acting in accordance with advice from the Council of State (COS) shall dissolve parliament, after three years shall have passed since it first met after elections; and after the National Assembly has adopted a resolution to dissolve parliament with a supporting two-thirds majority of its members.
