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SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN LESOTHO Volume 2, Number 3 (Third Quarter 1995) |
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Summary of events in Lesotho is a quarterly publication compiled and published by David Ambrose since 1993 at the National University of Lesotho, P. O. Roma 180, Lesotho. |
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BCP
‘Refugees’
Return
to
Lesotho BCP ‘Refugees’ Return to Lesotho
As
a
sequel
to
the
case
involving
APLA
members
from
South
Africa
supplying
arms
illegally
to
BCP
members,
Government
despatched
a
mission
to
Johannesburg
to
provide
assurances
so
that
BCP
members
who
had
fled
from
Lesotho
could
return
safely.
Amongst
those
who
travelled
to
Johannesburg
was
the
BCP
General
Secretary,
G.
M.
Kolisang.
96
members
of
the
former
LLA
and
the
BCP
Youth
League
returned
to
Lesotho
from
Pretoria
and
Qwaqwa
in
buses
on
Saturday
22
July Cabinet ReshuffleLegal Notice No. 100 of 1995 ALLOCATION OF PORTFOLIOS, 20 JULY 1995 Deputy PM & Minister of Home Affairs Pakalitha Mosisili Minister of Justice & Human Rights, Law & Constitutional Affairs Molapo Qhobela Minister of Works Ntsukunyane Mphanya Minister of Transport & Communications Lesao Lehohla Minister of Natural Resources Dr. Khauhelo Raditapole Minister of Foreign Affairs Kelebone Maope Minister of Education & Manpower Dev. Tšeliso Makhakhe Minister of Health & Social Welfare Sekoala Toloane Minister of Agriculture, Co-operatives, Marketing & Youth Affairs Mopshatla Mabitle Minister of Tourism, Sports & Culture Pashu Mochesane On Thursday 20 July, a comprehensive Cabinet reshuffle took place. Each Minister was apparently called in and informed of his new portfolio, while two Ministers were dropped from the Cabinet. Amongst significant changes were the transfer of the Minister of Justice, Kelebone Maope, to the Foreign Affairs portfolio, and the transfer of the Molapo Qhobela to the Justice portfolio. Pakalitha Mosisili remained Deputy Prime Minister but became Minister of Home Affairs & Local Government, while the Ministry of Natural Resources went to the former Minister of Health, Dr. Deborah Raditapole. The new Minister of Education was the former Minister of Natural Resources, Tšeliso Makhakhe, himself a teacher by profession. Those who retained their portfolios intact were the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance & Economic Planning, Dr. M. P Senaoana, and the Minister of Labour & Employment, Notši Molopo. The Prime Minister’s brother, Shakhane Mokhehle retained the Trade & Industry portfolio, but lost the Tourism portfolio, which was combined with Sports & Culture (formerly linked with Education) to form a new under Pashu Mochesane.
Those
dropped
from
the
Cabinet
included
the
Minister
of
Works,
Mr.
David
Mochochoko
and
the
Minister
of
Foreign
Affairs,
Mr.
Mpho
Malie.
Rumour
was
rife
as
how
the
Ntsu
Mokhehle
had
decided
on
the
changes,
Although,
some
would
have
it
that
the
Prime
Minister
had
independently
decided
on
the
shuffle,
others
saw
Tom
Thabane
as
having
been
particularly
influential.
Of
those
Ministers
who
had
lost
their
portfolios
completely,
it
was
noted
that
David
Mochochoko
had
(with
much
justification)
made
strong
statements
against
the
police
earlier
in
the
year,
while
Mpho
Malie’s
impish
style
of
work
had
embarrassed
the
Prime
Minister
earlier
in
the
year
at
the
OAU
Meeting
in
Addis
Ababa.
His
hitching
a
ride
on
the
South
African
Foreign
Minister’s
helicopter
to
go
on
a
personal
trip
to
Johannesburg
had
also
been
an
undignified
breach
of
protocol.
State Visit by Nelson Mandela
At
the
time
of
Mpho
Malie’s
indiscretion,
Alfred
Nzo
had
been
in
Lesotho’s
finalising
details
for
the
State
Visit
of
President
Nelson
Mandela,
which
duly
took
place
on
Wednesday
12
and
Thursday
13
July.
Mandela
undertook
a
gruelling
programme
in
which
he
made
no
less
than
ten
separate
speeches,
including
a
speech
to
the
two
Houses
of
Parliament.
He
also
laid
wreaths
and
made
a
moving
speech
at
the
graves
of
ANC
cadres
murdered
in
Maseru
during
the
December
1982
and
other
South
African
raids
on
Maseru.
This
was
still
on
the
Wednesday,
and
on
the
following
day
flew
by
helicopter
to
Hlotse,
where
he
undertook
the
official
naming
of
the
access
road
to
the
Katse
dam
as
the
Nelson
Mandela
Highway.
Prison Officers on StrikeIndiscipline in the armed forces, police and security service had plagued the Government for a period of over 18 months. Prison officers had been amongst those who went on strike for more pay. New problems within the prison service became apparent from 14 July, when a go-slow strike was instituted by prison officers. The stated reason for the protest was that Colonel S. Khethang Mafatlane, who had previously retired in 1994 had been reinstated as Deputy Director of Prisons. Some light on the reasons for the protest appeared in The Mirror of 9 August 1995. It appeared that there was a belief that Mafatlane had been brought back to the prison service to facilitate the employment of Reconciliation Officers (the name given to former members of the Lesotho Liberation Army) in the prison service. On 4 August, prison officers armed with rifles invaded the Ministry of Justice & Human Rights. The Principal Secretary, Ms. Matsoana Fanana was sufficiently intimidated by their actions that she allowed keys to Ministry vehicles to be handed over to the strikers.
Striking
prison
workers,
perhaps
in
an
attempt
to
gain
public
sympathy,
gave
interviews
stating
that
they
were
also
striking
for
better
conditions
for
prisoners
whose
cells
were
overcrowded,
and
who
did
not
get
sufficient
food,
clothing
and
medical
care
(Mopheme,
8
Aug
1995).
Meanwhile,
there
were
reports
from
various
prisons
of
actions
in
which
prison
officers
were
engaging
in
various
acts
of
indiscipline
towards
senior
prison
officers,
in
some
cases
imprisoning
them.
The
strikers
added
to
their
demands
that
the
Director
of
Prisons,
Major-General
Tšeliso
Khalieli
be
dismissed. Continuing Unrest Amongst Teachers
Unrest
amongst
teachers
had
subsided
because
schools
were
on
holiday
throughout
most
of
June
and
July.
When
schools
opened
again,
one
teachers’
union
the
LTTU
(Lesotho
Teachers’
Trade
Union)
announced
strike
action
would
resume,
and
this
began
on
15th
August.
The
other
union
the
LAT
(Lesotho
Association
of
Teachers)
voted
to
continue
working.
Because
membership
of
the
unions
was
largely
sectarian,
the
effect
was
that
most
Catholic
schools
in
the
country
were
closed,
while
all
schools
of
the
Lesotho
Evangelical
Church
remained
open.
Some
Anglican
schools
were
open
and
some
closed.
At
first
Government
continued
to
pay
teachers,
but
when
the
strike
continued,
teachers
who
were
still
striking
did
not
receive
September
salary
cheques.
Local Government ElectionsThe long awaited local government elections went ahead on 10-11 August 1995. This was despite the fact that some chiefs (including some Principal Chiefs) had instructed their subjects not to co-operate with government electoral staff. Under the revised law, the new Village Development Councils no longer allowed each chief to be ex officio chairperson of the VDC. The chief was nevertheless still ex officio a member of the VDC. District and Ward Development Council elections were held later in the month. In all these elections the qualification to vote was rather different from national elections. Persons over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, and residence in a particular area, not nationality, was the test for eligibility. The regulations containing this information were gazetted only shortly before the actual elections, and it seems were not generally known to the public as a whole. It was noted that Local Government in Lesotho was still indeed a fragile and untried exercise. Back in the late 1960s, District Councils had been dissolved by the Government of Leabua Jonathan, this act being attributed by most people to the fact that they had the unfortunate attribute of being almost invariably controlled by a BCP majority. There had however been another contributory cause. A report of Sir Walter Coutts at the time had criticised the cost of having two parallel administrations (local government and the chieftainship). Britain was at the time providing subventions towards recurrent expenditure, and he recommended that local government might be left in the hands of the chiefs as a cost saving measure, this despite a lengthy and diligent attempt by the colonial administration to establish viable district councils, and having sent numbers of Basotho to Britain to study local government in action. In the late 1960s, the Ministry of Local Government had had over twenty professional staff in post. In 1995, there was just one person, Mr. Ernest Monyau, who had been appointed shortly after Village Development Committees (later to be known as Councils) had been established after the Military Coup in 1986. Ernest Monyau retired from his post in mid-1995, leaving no continuity whatsoever.
The
lack
of
viable
local
government
had
become
a
severe
embarrassment,
and
threatened
the
largest
development
in
Lesotho,
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project,
revenue
from
which
was
expected
to
accrue
at
some
$55
million
per
annum,
some
14%
of
Government
total
revenue.
The
Rural
Development
Programme,
of
all
components
of
the
LHWP,
could
least
afford
to
be
‘top
down’.
Moreover,
the
Compensation
Plan
could
also
benefit
from
having
local
government
authorities
involved
in
implementation.
However,
the
Malibamatšo
valley
was
fragmented
between
numerous
Village
Development
Council
areas
of
quite
disparate
sizes
in
four
different
districts.
Discussions
resulting
from
initiatives
within
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project
had
proposed
a
Malibamatšo
district
or
sub-district
with
headquarters
at
Lejone,
and
grouping
of
the
VDCs
into
Local
Government
Areas
of
workable
size,
but
without
staff
to
implement
this,
the
Ministry
of
Local
Government
had
done
very
little.
Meanwhile
the
World
Bank
had
shown
its
displeasure,
and
provided
a
cue
for
other
supporters.
For
example
the
British
Minister
of
Overseas
Development,
Baroness
Chalker,
in
a
letter
(see
The
Mirror
15
November
1995)
stated
‘...
in
talking
to
the
Hon.
Minister
for
Natural
Resources,
Dr.
Deborah
Raditapole,
I
emphasised
our
concern
about
implementation
delays
with
the
Rural
Development
Programme
and
compensation
plan.
I
made
no
secret
of
the
fact
that
we
attach
great
importance
to
the
successful
resolution
of
the
environmental
and
social
issues
currently
affecting
Phase
1A.
Specifically,
I
told
the
Minister
that
we
fully
supported
the
World
Bank
in
their
view
that
it
would
be
inappropriate
for
them
to
consider
further
financial
support
to
Phase
1B
unless
these
issues
were
effectively
addressed.’
BCP Candidate Wins Hlotse By-ElectionA much delayed by-election was held in the Hlotse constituency on 26 August 1995. It was necessitated by the murder on 14 April 1994 of the Deputy Prime Minister, Selometsi Baholo, who was also the MP for the constituency.
The
seat
was
retained
by
the
Basutoland
Congress
Party,
whose
candidate,
Sello
Maphalla,
received
2560
votes.
None
of
the
major
opposition
parties
contested
the
seat,
and
the
only
other
candidates
were
an
independent,
Thabo
Chakela,
who
received
78
votes,
while
Antony
Clovis
Manyeli
of
the
National
Independence
Party
received
14
votes
and
Khauta
Khasu
of
the
Hareeng
Basotho
Party
received
12
votes.
2685
persons
voted
out
of
a
total
of
11569
registered
voters.
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