- As Mahao accuses RFP of funding Thotanyana to destabilize BAP…
- But Thotanyana hits back, accusing Prof Mahao of ruining BAP…
- While RFP rejects all allegations levelled against it…
’Marafaele Mohloboli
THE fight between Basotho Action Party (BAP) leader, Professor Nqosa Mahao and the party’s secretary-general (SG), Lebohang Thotanyana, has taken a nasty turn with Prof Mahao accusing Mr Thotanyana of being funded by the ruling Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) to destabilise the BAP.
But Mr Thotanyana has hit back, accusing his boss of “abusing’ party funds and of “ruining” the BAP, a splinter party from the All Basotho Convention (ABC).
Prof Mahao made the bold claim in an exclusive interview with the Lesotho Times this week, alleging Mr Thotanyana was in cahoots with “some people” in Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s RFP, who were “channelling funds” into his “smear campaign” against his own party.
The RFP has vehemently rejected the allegations. While praising Mr Thotanyana for “making the right noises” about Mr Matekane, it said it had no interest whatsoever in funding him to destabilise his own party. Mr Thotanyana has rejected calls by opposition parties for Mr Matekane to step down, saying the Prime Minister should be given enough time to fulfil his agenda.
Prof Mahao now accuses his SG of “scheming” and “getting” funds from the cash rich RFP to derail the BAP, whose agenda Mr Thotanyana should be the prime mover.
“I know that he (Thotanyana) has people he is working closely with in the RFP, and they are the ones who are even paying for his slander campaigns on various radio stations to cause instability in the BAP,” Prof Mahao alleged.
Prof Mahao was referring to a plea made by Mr Thotanyana on his Facebook timeline, later repeated in an interview with the Lesotho Times and other outlets, that Mr Matekane should be allowed to govern until his tenure ends in 2027.
Mr Thotanyana’s stance is in sharp contrast to the call by opposition parties for the prime minister to step down immediately. Several opposition parties, at a press conference last month, called for Mr Matekane to quit because he had “failed” to deliver on his promises in the 10 months he had been in power. Prof Mahao attended the press conference though he did not himself speak in support of the call.
Probably fearing that Prof Mahao’s presence at the presser – could be interpreted to mean that the BAP was in support of the call – Mr Thotanyana had moved quickly to explain that the BAP had not taken a position on the call for Mr Matekane to quit. He then exhorted the opposition to give Mr Matekane more time to lead the country, saying it was too early to pass judgement on his performance as premier as he had only been in power for a short 10 months.
The opposition – working in cahoots with some disgruntled MPs within the RFP – are however not relenting on their bid to oust Mr Matekane. The Lesotho Times understands they will push for a no confidence motion as soon as parliament returns from its winter break.
Prof Mahao said Mr Thotanyana should not have made the pronouncements in favour of the PM.
“A few weeks ago, when a motion of no confidence against the PM was looming, Mr Thotanyana said the PM needed to be given a chance to govern. Nothing bounds him to make such a pronouncement….,” Prof Mahao said.
He said Mr Thotanyana had gone to make his views known on social media. A series of events had shown that Mr Thotanyana had more contact with the RFP “than he has with us, as his own party”, said Prof Mahao. His actions “were a clear sign that he had been having frequent meetings with the RFP, way more than he is supposed to be doing with his own party”.
Prof Mahao alleged that Mr Thotanyana’s “devious” and “scheming” nature emerged after he failed to make it to parliament after losing the Teyateyaneng (TY) seat to the RFP’s Lebona Lephema.
The BAP failed to win a single constituency seat and only got allocated six proportional representation (PR) seats.
Prof Mahao said Mr Thotanyana had then asked him to change the party’s PR list to accommodate him into parliament on the basis that he was a senior member of the party. But it was already too late as the PR lists for political parties are submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) before the elections. They are not easily alterable after the elections. Mr Thotanyana had been number seven on the BAP’s list, meaning he narrowly missed the chance to get into parliament via the PR option after failing to win the constituency seat.
Prof Mahao said he had refused to entertain Mr Thotanyana’s demands to change the PR list, resulting in the aggrieved SG resorting to “mischief” and “destabilising” the party. Mr Thotanyana’s desire and subsequent failure to get into parliament had created his disillusionment and subsequent failure to honour his duties, Prof Mahao said.
“The BAP is very democratic and transparent when drawing its party list…. Once the party list is done and submitted to the IEC, it is cast in stone. It is sealed…. It cannot be changed on a whim,” Prof Mahao said.
“Ours is a democratic process…. We don’t use the method (like in other parties) where people sit down with the leader and conspire on who should be considered for parliament. Ours is a very open process involving open discussions about who should be on the list.
“After the election results were announced, the SG came to my place at night and asked that I remove the name of the person whose name came before him (‘Manyaneso Taole who is number six on the party’s list) and put his on the list instead.
“But – even assuming that it was possible to do that – that was not for me to decide because according to the BAP’s constitution, unlike other parties, the leader doesn’t have special powers and all decisions are made collectively. I then asked that he (Thotanyana) presents his proposal in our meeting (of the decision making central executive committee).”
He had failed to do so because he “wanted to use me to do it on his behalf”, Prof Mahao said, adding it was impossible for him to do that because he does not have such powers.
“After that, he (Thotanyana) started getting very demoralised and sowing divisions among members of the party. He also started leaving some of his party’s responsibilities unattended,” Prof Mahao said.
An irate Mr Thotanyana has, however, shot back, telling the Lesotho Times yesterday that the blame for the BAP’s problems should be placed squarely on Prof Mahao’s shoulders. He challenged the BAP leader to prove that he was conniving with the RFP to destabilise the party.
“It is not true that I have been sowing divisions in the party. He has been accusing me of things he hears from his people. He doesn’t want those close to him being disciplined yet he wants others to be taken to task over things they are accused of. He is the one who is putting the party into disrepute,” Mr Thotanyana said.
“Saying I’m in bed with the RFP is a serious allegation, which he shall have to prove. But all I know is that he fears the RFP like nobody’s business. All he should say is that he is hungry for power and so badly desires to be in government…. But the RFP remains his stumbling block”
Mr Thotanyana said he believes his quarrels with Prof Mahao started when he confronted the BAP leader over his “abuse” of party funds. Mr Thotanyana accuses Prof Mahao of spending party funds on himself, thereby creating financial strain for the BAP. Prof Mahao should thus be investigated for abusing party funds, Mr Thotanyana charged.
“Our fights have always been there. But the climax was in June when I raised concern that most of the party funding was being spent on him and that this was making other party business suffer. He took serious offence to this,” Mr Thotanyana said.
“Even today, I maintain that most of the party’s expenditure has been on him. My concern was that even if some of it was meant to finance him, at least it could be used to advance some of the party’s administrative operations.
“And if the BAP money was supposed to be spent on people, the best beneficiaries would be the ordinary members themselves as they cannot afford to pay bus fares to attend rallies. He fought with his former SG in the ABC, and now it’s me. So, I think it should be investigated whether the problem lies with me or him.”
About three weeks back, Prof Mahao and Mr Thotanyana engaged in heated exchanges, after the BAP leader penned his SG a letter asking him to show cause why he should not be suspended from the party for “insubordination, refusing to discharge his duties as directed as well as sowing divisions and promoting factionalism in the party”.
Mr Thotanyana had, among other charges, refused to co-sign a financial report prepared for the IEC by the party’s treasurer-general, ‘Mamoipone Senauoane. Mr Thotanyana refused to co-sign the report, alleging that it was peppered with irregularities and misrepresentations. Mr Thotanyana also threatened to report his party to the IEC over the alleged abuse of funds. He subsequently went to court to try and stop Prof Mahao and the party’s central executive committee from suspending him. The matter is still pending.
Meanwhile, RFP spokesperson Mokhethi Shelile, yesterday dismissed Mr Mahao’s claims as unfounded, saying his party did not have the slightest idea “as to who is funding Thotanyana”. He said the RFP did not have “a policy to destabilise other parties”.
“There is nothing like that and we don’t even know who could be funding Thotanyana. However, he seems to be saying all the right things. As the RFP we, have no policy to destabilise any party and will never have one. All we are here for is to deliver services to Basotho. We are trying to change Lesotho’s political sphere,” Mr Shelile said.
Prof Mahao formed the BAP in April 2021 after he split from the ABC where he was deputy leader and had fought running battles with then party leader Thomas Thabane. The intense factionalism that drove him away from the ABC now threatens to plague the BAP.
