…as party MPs go for each others’ throats
’Marafaele Mohloboli
INFIGHTING in the ruling Revolution For Prosperity (RFP) has reached fever pitch, with Abia constituency legislator, Thuso Makhalanyane, challenging the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) to investigate the ministry of agriculture on its recent procurement and sale of seed and fertiliser.
Mr Makhalanyane told the Lesotho Times the acquisition of the two commodities had not benefitted the farming community as anticipated, adding he suspected the inputs had been “smuggled” from the ministry’s storage and taken to a facility owned by the RFP’s Thaba-Bosiu legislator Isaac Malebaleba. He claimed Mr Malebaleba was, in turn, using the inputs “to enrich his own farming production and that of his friends and colleagues who are also members of parliament (MPs)”.
“Opportunities to engage in farming have been given to the favourites of this government, while the electorate has been left out in the cold. When we asked to be voted into government, we said we were going to emancipate our people and not enslave them like we are doing,” Mr Makhalanyane said.
“Why hasn’t government levelled the playing field and given all Basotho interested in farming equal footing, instead of enslaving and exploiting them by taking their fields and robbing them of the produce? Why can’t government, at least take 50 percent of the produce and give the owners of the fields 50 percent? This is daylight robbery.”
Mr Makhalanyane said because of his suspicions, he had reported the issue to the DCEO and challenged the anti-graft body to conduct in-depth investigations into the allegations. The MP said he wanted the DCEO to establish where all the fertiliser and seed procured by government had “disappeared” to, particularly as the farming community had not accessed any of the agricultural inputs with the official line being they were out of stock.
“Further to this, the DCEO should investigate how tractors belonging to some legislators and ministers had been hired while there has never been a tender for such a contract. Some of our people in our respective constituencies have tractors, but they were denied the opportunity to do similar work because it was never tendered for,” he charged.
In addition, Mr Makhalanyane said the allocation of tenders within the agriculture ministry was shrouded in secrecy, noting had the electorate been made aware of what projects government was planning to implement, “they would also have gone to the banks and secured loans to buy tractors”.
“Unfortunately, the people they have voted for have taken advantage of their gullibility and gone ahead to enrich themselves and their own farming projects and we are sick and tired of this,” Mr Makhalanyane protested.
“This government is violating all the promises it made to the people when it wanted to be voted into power, and anyone who speaks against it is perceived an enemy of the party who needs to be silenced.”
In his accusations against Mr Malebaleba, Mr Makhalenyane said the former’s tractors were also being fuelled by government and this also had to be investigated as it was not even known how they were hired in the first place.
Mr Makhalanyane even aired his views openly on his Facebook page saying: “Unfortunately, I am not a thief, and I didn’t know that you were thieves and had come to steal. They have taken their own tractors and they are the ones which are being used for ploughing to bleed money from government, while the masses have been left out and are being fed lies that the food is being produced for them.
“In short, this means that the electorate voted for you so that you could sit in the centre of it all and watch you while you eat. Did they vote for you so that you could enrich yourself and your agricultural project? Did they vote for you to be ahead with information so that you could take advantage of them?
“Government fertilizers are packed in his storage, they are stealing with his minister and the public is denied such and told that fertilizers are finished, gone to the stomachs of men who think that we are stupid, and we just accompanied them to loot the public’s purse. Go and find out how many tractors
belonging to MPs have been hired by traitorous means at the Ministry of Agriculture.”
Mr Makhalanyane also made the sensational claim that he had learnt of a plot to have him and the RFP’s Matlakeng legislator Dr Mahali Phamotse assassinated as they were “causing instability in the party by airing our views”. He, however, added he was not worried about “the dirty plot” because he had “tight security”.
Contacted for comment also on Tuesday morning, Mr Malebaleba told the Lesotho Times that it was an insult to accuse him of stealing agricultural inputs and plotting people’s deaths, adding he was a wealthy man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth hence he didn’t have to steal from anyone.
“I’m well-off and was born wealthy. I also have no reason to get involved in such dirty dealings like plotting to kill people. I have no relations with the ministry of agriculture that would give me access to their stores and let me loot their fertiliser,” Mr Malebaleba told the Lesotho Times.
“I fuel my own tractors with almost M80 000 every week from my own pocket. I am not a thief and don’t understand why Makhalanyane is saying all that about me. If he is hungry for power, that has nothing to do with me.”
Earlier in the day, Mr Malebaleba had told a local radio station that the fertilizer in his storage belonged to him and was never in the agriculture ministry’s possession.
“I have heard these allegations that I and the minister of agriculture are stealing fertilizers and seeds, and that my tractors are also ploughing and stealing money from government. I am not a thief, and if I was one, I would have long been in prison. I’ve got 40 years in business,” Mr Malebaleba said.
“The fertilizers that are in my storage are mine, I got them from Durban when I learnt that government didn’t have any and I ferried them with my own trucks because I was running out of time, and the seeds I got from Bethlehem in South Africa using money from my pocket. So, all this junk that’s being said about my name is none of my business and I won’t entertain it.”
In response to the alleged murder plot, Mr Malebaleba said he would “never plot to kill anyone” and that he was “disappointed that Mr Makhalanyane is dragging my name in the mud in the manner that he is doing”.
“The only reason that he is saying all this is because at one point, he had wanted me to suggest to the premier that he be appointed minister of Home Affairs and that never happened. It was the discretion of the premier as to who he wanted to appoint and it’s not my fault that he was not appointed,” Mr Malebaleba said.
Contacted again on the same day for clarity, Mr Makhalenyane strongly refuted ever approaching Mr Malebaleba “seeking that he put in a good word for me” with Prime Minister Sam Matekane.
“Who is he? He is just a friend of the PM and has no powers to appoint people. How could I ask this from him when he and I are in the same position? What he is saying is actually an insult to the premier because he is insinuating that the PM can’t make decisions of his own, that he needs other people to do so for him. Besides, who was born to be a minister or has been earmarked to be a minister?” Mr Makhalanyane charged.
Contacted by the Lesotho Times for comment also on Tuesday, Dr Phamotse said she had also heard of a plot to assassinate her but was not worried by it.
“I have heard of the plot to have me killed but I am not shaken. Maybe it’s because I have been through a lot and no longer care what happens to me. I always make sure that I do things that keep my conscience clear so I don’t think I have done anything that would warrant for me to be killed,” Dr Phamotse said.
“Besides, I wonder who would be engaged to carry out the hit because no soldier or police would be interested. I trust the security agencies of this country and don’t want to think that could happen under their watch. My life belongs to God.”
Contacted for comment, the DCEO spokesperson, ‘Matlhohonolofatso Senoko, said she was not aware of such a case which had allegedly been reported with the DCEO.
