Moroke Sekoboto
Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) Teyateyaneng (TY) constituency committees have defended their MP, Lebona Lephema, against accusations that he was creating divisions within the ruling party as he allegedly pushes an agenda to succeed Prime Minister Sam Matekane.
In a letter dated 15 July 2024, addressed to the RFP national executive committee (NEC), the committees expressed concern over statements by the RFP’s Peka MP, Mohopoli Monokoane, and some TY youths accusing Mr Lephema of political skullduggery as he positions himself to succeed Mr Matekane. The committees said the statements were meant to tarnish Mr Lephema’s name.
A fortnight ago, a leaked WhatsApp voice clip revealed Mr Monokoane’s dissatisfaction with Mr Lephema’s alleged unethical practices, accusing him of attempting to overthrow Mr Matekane and take over the party’s leadership. In the clip, Mr Monokoane urged Mr Matekane to reprimand Mr Lephema before he “destroyed” the party.
Mr Monokoane stated, “Some men that you walk with, specifically this man Lebona, did not join the RFP to support you. He wants to overthrow you and become a leader. Lebona does not love you; he is giving you a plastic smile. If you don’t recognize his hypocrisy and bullying in the party, we will lose this party.”
Additionally, a Teyateyaneng youth identified as Makhabane accused Mr Lephema of forming his own faction within the RFP and acting as a dictator by instructing others to vote for his preferred candidates. Makhabane claimed that Mr Lephema failed to support his youth league election campaign despite promising assistance.
“When I decided to stand for youth league elections, I approached Mr Lephema to sponsor my campaign, and he promised to help me with radio campaigns, but he never did. He has his own team called ‘Team Lebona’ who are not from Teyateyaneng.
“We campaigned a lot for him (Lephema) during the 2022 general elections, but instead of supporting me as I was standing for youth league elections, he ordered me to step down and vote for his preferred candidates. I refused and stood for elections, hence I only got three votes.
“In a democratic dispensation, you don’t order or threaten others to withdraw from elections and vote for your preferred skeleton. That is not democracy; it is dictatorship. This Team Lebona is a group of people who want Mr Lephema to become deputy leader and be in charge of all party structures. The Women’s League elections have the same cancer plaguing them already. It is wrong that legislators influence youth league elections.
“I don’t like cheap politics. We are going to fix the situation with our votes. We are heading towards splitting; it’s sad because we worked hard to campaign for him,” Makhabane said.
The TY constituency committees condemned the “defamation attempts” against Mr Lephema, who also serves as the Minister of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs, and Police.
They appealed to the NEC to address the issue, emphasising that the attacks were causing confusion and division within the party.
“As the Teyateyaneng constituency made up of four committees, we are concerned by unfortunate acts where our legislator’s name is being dragged through the mud.
“We have ignored these actions for a long time, but it took a new turn on 29 June 2024 at the RFP youth league elective conference where the Peka legislator made a clip on social media with unfounded accusations about our legislator. To this day, we are still awaiting the NEC disciplinary measures on the matter,” the TY committees said in their letter.
“There is another clip by one youth who is hellbent on attacking our legislator with unfounded accusations. As Teyateyaneng constituency and branch committees, we had a meeting on 7 July 2024 where we agreed on our standpoint regarding the women’s and men’s leagues elections. We therefore condemn these actions that are intended to create confusion among us by this youth and his cohorts.
“We are shocked by accusations that our legislator is pushing to oust the RFP leader. We, therefore, appeal to those who are hellbent on defaming the good name of our legislator to stop immediately because those accusations are unfounded and false.”
Another RFP legislator, ‘Mope Khati, for Pela-Tṧoeu constituency, had also accused Lephema of seeking to succeed Prime Minister Matekane and focusing on garnering constituency support instead of his ministerial duties. Khati criticized Lephema for recruiting people for jobs at the Department of Home Affairs from constituencies, bypassing MPs.
Mr Khati described Mr Lephema as a “cancer plaguing the RFP” and pledged to speak out against wrongdoings within the party.
Contacted for a comment, RFP Deputy Spokesperson and Thaba Phatšoa legislator, Thabo Maretlane, denied knowledge of the letter and described the circulating clips as mere propaganda. He insisted the NEC was working well.
A senior RFP official, who spoke to the Lesotho Times, on condition of anonymity so he can speak freely, said Mr Lephema’s main bone of contention was that he should at least be the deputy party leader.
“Lephema is aggrieved because he wants Nthomeng’s position. He claims to have invested a lot of money in building the RFP just as Ntate Matekane himself did. So, he believes he is entitled to the position of deputy party leader at least in lieu of his contribution. And once he is deputy party leader, he knows that he is a heart-beat away from the ultimate prize (prime minister).
“That is why he was sponsoring Mahali (Phamotse) when she was pushing for NEC elections and when she was campaigning to replace Nthati (Moorosi) as secretary-general before she (Phamotse) was expelled. Phamotse was all doing Lephema’s bidding.”
Nthomeng Majara is the RFP’s current deputy leader and also Deputy Prime Minister
