Lesotho- Warrant of arrest blows cracks wide open

(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU -THE issuance of a warrant of arrest for Mothetjoa Metsing and Selibe Mochoboroane on Monday has exposed massive cracks within the coalition government.

The two biggest partners in the government, the Democratic Congress (DC) and the All Basotho Convention (ABC), are backing opposing views, threatening the cohesion of government.
The DC says it is vehemently opposed to the warrant of arrest. It also wants the criminal charges levelled against Metsing, who leads the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), and Mochoboroane, who leads the Movement for Economic Change (MEC), dropped.

The All Basotho Convention (ABC), which is the biggest partner in the coalition government, says the two must face the music over their role in the August 30, 2014 events.
The ABC has always insisted that the events of the night were an attempted coup against the then government led by Thomas Thabane.
It accuses former army commander Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli of orchestrating the 'attempted coup'. Lt Gen Kamoli is currently in remand at Maseru Maximum Prison.

The ABC wants Metsing and Mochoboroane to join Lt Gen Kamoli in the dock to answer the treason charge.
The decision to issue the warrant of arrest comes after top detective, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Paseka Mokete, successfully applied for a warrant of arrest after the two lost their case in the constitutional court.
Metsing and Mochoboroane wanted the court to stop their prosecution but that attempt was thrown out last week.

They are now appealing against the judgment.
On Tuesday, the DC secretary general, Tšitso Cheba, said the charges were a 'smear campaign' against the two politicians.
He said when they formed the coalition government with the ABC in May this year one of the conditions was that the treason charges against the two would be dropped.

'We, as the DC, do not support the move to arrest the two leaders,' Cheba said.
He said Mochoboroane is part of the government and if he is arrested, this is definitely going to threaten the stability of the government.
Cheba said their fear was that if Metsing and Mochoboroane were to be arrested they were going to join the soldiers who have been in detention since 2017 without their cases being finalised.

When the DC and the ABC joined forces sometime this year to form the government, Cheba said, the DC insisted that no one implicated in the 2014 incidents would be prosecuted.
'Now we are stunned by the movements taking place,' he said.
He said the DC is calling for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) so that everyone could be healed.

'If there are those who have to be compensated, that should be allowed to take place,' Cheba said, adding that this should be done to heal broken hearts.
He said they have agreed with their partner in government that they do not want to see anyone skipping the country fearing for their lives.
He said their fear was that no one facing a treason charge would be granted bail.

'So, this is a sure sign that the two are going to rot in jail,' he said.
Cheba argued that this is a well-orchestrated plan to have Mochoboroane and Selibe behind the bars.
'There is someone behind this,' he said without elaborating.
He said peace and stability will not come on a silver plate adding the nation will have to sacrifice for this to happen.

Cheba said they are also in regular contact with the ABC's national executive committee to see if they are still walking within the coalition agreement.
He insisted the party is still deeply committed to the rule of law and respect for the independence of the judiciary.
The ABC spokesman Montoeli Masoetsa told thepost yesterday that if people have to appear before the courts, they should simply comply.

'This is our standpoint as the party,' Masoetsa said.
Meanwhile, other parties both in and outside of government have joined the chorus to condemn the government for issuing the warrant of arrest.
The LCD is blaming Prime Minister Majoro for pushing for Metsing and Mochoboroane's prosecution.

The LCD deputy leader, Tšeliso Mokhosi, said the national reforms would not have been inclusive enough if Metsing and other politicians had not agreed to come back home from exile.
'There is no reason why Majoro wants our leaders locked up,' Mokhosi said.

'I am not talking about the police or the courts but Majoro, all the things happening are on Majoro's head alone,' he said.
He said since Dr Majoro's arrival in office Metsing visited him six times seeking his intervention in the pending charges but he never did.
Mokhosi said there was an agreement that politicians implicated in the events of August 30, 2014 would not be prosecuted until after the national reforms.

The Constitutional Court however said that section of the agreement was unconstitutional, dealing a massive blow to the two politicians' bid to escape trial.
Mokhosi however said Lesotho's courts are not independent.
'The courts must be helped to be independent because currently they are influenced by politicians, judges fear losing their jobs,' he said.
'The Prime Minister has to abide by the SADC agreement.'

Mokhosi said they wrote to the SADC envoy, Justice Dikgang Moseneke, informing him that Dr Majoro, 'instead of implementing reforms he is busy chasing the political leaders'.
MEC deputy leader Tšepang Tšita-Mosena told a separate press conference that the charges against her leader were political and were meant to tarnish his image.

She said the warrant of arrest was meant to destabilise some political parties in the country.
She said they were pleased by the DC's press statement saying the treason charge would soon shake the foundations of the government.

'Treason is a big charge that does not have bail,' Tšita-Mosena said.
Tšita-Mosena said the charge is aimed at making Mochoboroane lose vision and also to humiliate him in front of his followers.
She said Mochoboroane is just being punished for exposing corruption when he was still chairman of parliament's Public Accounts Committee.
Mochoboroane is now Development Planning Minister.

Majara Molupe

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