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RFP is a scam – Ramatšella

by Lesotho Times
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…lashes out at IEC for aiding RFP ‘fraud’

’Marafaele Mohloboli

FIREBRAND Democratic Congress (DC) politician, Bokang Ramatšella, says Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) is not a political party but a scam which does not comply with any provisions of the National Assembly Electoral Act, 2011.

Mr Ramatšella told the Lesotho Times that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was complicit in this alleged con due to its preferential treatment of the party, which allows it to operate despite flouting the country’s electoral laws. The interview was conducted shortly after Mr Ramatsélla lodged an urgent application in the High Court last Friday in which he asks the court to force the IEC to remove the RFP from its register on the grounds that the ruling party was allegedly unlawfully registered in May 2022.

Mr Ramatsélla also suggested that the IEC’s impartiality was compromised by its occupation of offices owned by Mr Matekane – a billionaire businessman who surprised many when he decided to join mainstream politics last year by launching the RFP.

“The fact that the IEC is renting office space at premises owned by Mr Matekane could easily influence its conduct towards and the treatment of the RFP,” Mr Ramatsélla said.

Mr Ramatsélla further told this paper that he had observed “so many things that didn’t add up” about the RFP in the build-up to the October 2022 general elections, such as the party’s attempt to disqualify its members who had won the party’s primary elections in their respective constituencies and replacing them with candidates the leadership said “fitted into the party’s meritocracy mantra”.

The rejected candidates would later instigate a lawsuit against the RFP, which they won, and were restored to contest the general elections, which they also won.

“A classic example of that was when Dr Mahali Phamotse, who is a Doctor of Philosophy with vast experience in politics and a long-time lecturer at the National University of Lesotho, was disqualified from contesting the elections. Here we are talking about someone who was not considered although she had previously been a cabinet minister and legislator. She was not considered just because she was perceived a threat in some way, compelling her to seek redress in the courts of law,” Mr Ramatsélla said.

“That spoke volumes about the RFP’s meritocracy mantra, and I started having some questions about everything. My interest also grew when I noticed that the RFP had very little regard for democracy despite Lesotho being a democratic dispensation. I realised that the RFP was not a political party when it became apparent the party’s leader had the final say on who should contest elections, going against the choice of the electorate. It was at that moment that I became convinced that the RFP was a scam.”

To drive his point home, Mr Ramatsélla said his fears about the RFP’s lack of credibility, were validated when just before the party turned one-year-old in March this year, Mr Matekane went all-out to shut down concerned party members who had called for an elective conference to renew the mandate of the founding executive committee. Eighteen months into the formation of the RFP, the party continues to function with an interim structure in the form of the founding executive. Yet an elective conference is one of the requirements for any political party or association registered with the Law Office, let alone a ruling party.

“I became more surprised when Mr Matekane started shooting down the call for an elective while addressing festivities hosted by members who had won constituencies (in the October 2022 general elections). He made it crystal clear that he wanted nothing to do with party elections and said he had not come to politics for that. The matter even spilled into the courts of law as members who felt strongly about the elective conference challenged him,” Mr Ramatsélla said.

“That was when my interest grew more, and I started making my own investigations about the RFP. I wrote to the IEC asking to peruse their file and was granted such permission. It was a mess. Their constitution did not say how much their membership fee would be. It only said a member would be considered such if they had paid their annual or lifetime subscription, without mentioning the price.

“It also said in its constitution that for one to be a member, they would have to be of 18 years ‘majority’ age, and this means Mr Matekane and everyone else who is above 18 years old, are not eligible because they are now older. They don’t qualify. The Electoral Act also says for any party to be registered, it should have at least 500 paid-up members who are registered with the IEC. The question here is how did the IEC vet those people when they were never given any proof of payment for their party membership?”

More worrisome, Mr Ramatsélla said, was that the IEC had now deregistered 15 non-compliant political parties and he wondered “how the RFP is excluded when it hasn’t even held its elective conference”.

Worse still, Mr Ramatsélla said, was his discovery that “the RFP does not have a constitution after it repealed it sometime in July last year”.

He continued: “In their letter written by RFP deputy-leader Justice Nthomeng Majara, the party sought to amend its constitution and that letter read: ‘Re: Amendment of the Constitution: Revolution for Prosperity 2022/94.

“This above matter refers. We wish to inform your good office that we have filed an amendment with the Registrar of Societies in the Registrar-General’s office, to set aside and repeal the RFP registered constitution (registered on April 01, 2022) and replace it with a new one. Attached hereto, please find a certified copy of a cover page of the Constitution repealed and cancelled by the Registrar General’s Office and the certified copy of the new Constitution registered with the office…”

Mr Ramatsélla argues the IEC’s first step should have been to deregister the RFP and inform its leadership that it had ceased to be a political party by repealing its constitution, which he said did not happen.

“This simply means the IEC and RFP engaged in fraud. They have three constitutions in their file. They also claim to have made all resolutions in their constitution during a special conference, which they claim all their members had attended, which is not true,” Mr Ramatsélla said.

“Through my investigations, more than 30 RFP members I asked about the special conference, knew nothing about it, and this is fraudulent information that the party has submitted to the IEC.”

Contacted for comment, IEC Director Legal, Advocate Lehlohonolo Suping, denied Mr Ramatsélla’s accusations that the commission treated the RFP differently.

“We try by all means to treat all parties equally and there is not a single time when we treated the RFP differently at all,” Adv Suping said.

Prodded further on Mr Ramatsélla’s allegations, Adv Suping said he could not comment on some of the issues he raised as they were already in the courts of law.

Contacted for comment on Tuesday this week, RFP spokesperson Mokhethi Shelile told the Lesotho Times that he would not dwell much into Mr Ramatsélla’s rant except to express concern for the latter’s mental well-being.

“I am seriously concerned about Mr Ramats’ella’s mental health and would advise that he gets checked. All the things that he is saying are not making any sense.  There is simply no way how IEC can verify membership without any proof of payment. Each RFP member does have their proof of payment,” Mr Shelile said.

“I don’t understand what he is saying when he talks about the amendments of some clauses in our constitution because, the law does permit that while amendments are being made the old constitution, remains in place until it is replaced with the amended one. Ntate (Ramtsélla) is sick in the head and should seek help.”

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