Southern African Leaders find a Break-through to Lesotho’s current Political Stalemate

The ruling coalition in Lesotho has agreed to hold early elections after it became clear that the three parties in power could not work together for the good of the country. The agreement was reached on Monday in Pretoria, South Africa, at a regional summit of Southern African heads of state, under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The last elections were held in 2012 and the next ones were to be held in 2017.

In recent months the coalition has been weakened by disputes between Prime-Minister Thomas Thabane of the All Basotho Convention Party and Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy Party. The disagreement became so intense and alarming that in June Thabane suspended Parliament to avoid a vote of no confidence, and in the process worsened the differences between his party and the other parties in the coalition. Earlier he had asked the army chief, Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli to step down and relinquish command. He appointed Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao to replace him. On August 30th the  military reacted to the Prime-minister’s announced changes by attacking the police headquarters, killing one police officer, and by temporarily occupying the capital, Maseru. The military also jammed radio stations and telephone signals. Prime-Minister Thabane fled to South Africa and returned 10 days later under South African protection. The Prime-Minister has many sympathisers and friends in the police force while his deputy, Metsing, has the support of senior army officers.  This explains why the police force was targeted by the army and why the Prime-minister hurriedly left for South Africa. Lieutenant General Kamoli has refused to step down as army chief, thus creating another crisis in the country.

The Southern African Heads of State, who included Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Ian Khama of Botswana, advised the coalition leaders to reconvene Parliament and to focus their attention on preparing for early elections on the assumption that this might defuse the political stand-off. They authorised the deployment of a regional observation mission for three months to ensure peace and stability within the defence, security and law enforcement organs of the state. They also appointed South Africa's Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as a facilitator. The Coalition government has been asked to work with him in addressing political and security issues as it prepares the country for early elections.

The Catholic bishops conference in the country has been following the situation carefully and with concern. On September 3rd the Bishops issued a statement  reminding the coalition government that it had betrayed the people by its internal disagreements  which had affected service delivery and put the security of the country at risk. They called upon the army to exercise discipline, reminding it that its mandate is the defence of the state and of the public. They went further to call upon the international community, especially the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the Commonwealth to which Lesotho is a member, to intervene to protect the rule of law, democracy, human rights, peace and stability.

Lesotho is a small developing country in southern Africa, surrounded by the Republic of  South Africa. It has experienced several political instabilities in the past, sometimes leading to coup d’états by the military.  The lack of political stability has not only eroded public and international confidence, but it has also affected social and economic development and consequently contributing to poverty because successive governments have focused more on resolving political squabbles than planning for the country and implementing policies.  The Catholic bishops, in their latest statement, have called for a sense of responsibility on the part of the political class because, according to them, a country led by mindless and corrupt people who are only interested in power, money and not service to the nation, is destined to chaos and collapse.  The catholic  church leaders have also appealed to the people of Lesotho to pray for peace and to remain vigilant, united, calm, hopeful and patriotic. “God always hears the cry of the poor and the oppressed and saves them”, they concluded.

John Baptist Tumusiime