(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU -THE brawl between the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) and the Ministry of Gender and Sports has escalated. The ministry has since instructed the National Covid-19 Secretariat (Nacosec) to stop assisting the association with tests and expert advice on Covid-19. It's a messy fight that could have serious implications for Lesotho's football.
Unresolved, the dispute could lead to FIFA suspending Lesotho from international football tournaments. Yet neither of the warring parties appear ready to retreat. Gender and Sports Minister Likeleli Tampane is a feisty character who doesn't shy away from battles, especially when she thinks she is right.
But in Mokhosi Mohapi, the secretary general of the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA), Tampane appears to have met her match. Never a pushover, Mohapi tells thepost he believes the minister's attack on him and the association is based on false information she got from people pushing their own nefarious agenda. In the following interview Mohapi explains the genesis of the current dispute and how it will affect Lesotho's football. We began by asking him how the fracas started.
I would say it probably began the day the minister was presented to the staff of the ministry. On that day the minister made the statement that sport is not only about football. That sent shivers down the spines of many enthusiasts who wondered why she was singling out football. Little did we know we are in for the long haul.
What is happening now can be traced back to that event and statement. It so happened this was in August the month of the Africa woman and I made a comment on social media that the Honourable Minister seemed to say gender-based violence is only against women when it actually cuts across genders. My point was that men too were victims of gender-based violence.
I also said it is worrying that the minister talks about gender equality yet all but one of the most senior officials in the ministry are women. I said this sends a wrong message when it comes to gender equality. I still stand by those words because it's a material fact.
The minister however seems to have misconstrued what I said. Over the media she said I had said women cannot do anything in sports. This is a lie. I clearly said women can lead and are many doing exceptionally well in their respective positions. I was only addressing the issue of balance when dealing with gender issues. My point was that we cannot win the battle against gender-based violence by excluding men. Women are as equally capable as men when put in senior positions.
They do exceptionally well and history is clear on that. When we had a female Speaker of Parliament the governments lasted full terms. The same cannot be said when we had male Speakers. We had a female police commissioner who lasted for years but male commissioners are not lasting. Our central bank is led by a woman who has steered this country through a very difficult economic situation. I therefore did not undermine women.
This sounds like a personal issue. How is it relevant to the current fight between the association and the ministry?
It's because the minister took offence when I said the top leadership at the ministry does not reflect the gender-balance it espouses. Instead of dealing with that opinion she went to the media and said I am foul-mouthed. I did not disenfranchise anybody. There is no record of me saying that. She was probably misinformed by someone who had their own malicious agenda. I suspect it's a personal issue the minister is raising based on what a person or a group of persons said to persuade her to their vindictive agenda.
At what point did you realise that relations between you and the minister had soured?
I first noticed she was fighting when I heard that she instructed the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) to take disciplinary action against me for merely having expressed an opinion in relation to the gender balance at the ministry.
That was sometime in September or October. During September when the football association was in the process of preparing for the return of football and seeking assistance from both the LSRC and the ministry the minister said something curious again. During a radio programme LEFA was asked if it had informed the ministry about its plans to resume football.
We confirmed that we had informed the ministry. But later the minister denied that LEFA had informed the ministry. An official from the ministry however confirmed what LEFA was saying. I suspect this did not sit well with the Minister. During the same month the minister talked about my opinion on gender balance in the ministry during another radio interview.
In a ridiculing manner she said there is an official at LEFA who is foul-mouthed and she will clean that mouth.
She said LEFA should not be surprised they don't get support from the ministry. She also said the association should refrain from going to the ministry directly to seek assistance but should go through the LSRC.
She has made it a point to always refer to my opinion whenever she is on radio. In another radio interview she said people should not be surprised when the national football team doesn't get support because there is a foul- mouthed person there.
Did she carry out those threats?
She stuck to her word because for months or two we submitted budgets and financial requests for Mehalalitoe, Bantu and Likuena for the international matches but the ministry has not provided any financial support. They have also not provided support for the Under-20 team going to Cosafa. We wrote to the ministry requesting entrance visas for the Benin team and delegation for the second leg but the ministry did not provide assistance.
We wrote to the ministry again requesting PCR Covid tests in line with the Fifa and CAF guidelines for the return of football but no assistance was rendered.
These are clear signs that the minister meant every word when she said there will be no assistance for LEFA. We have clips to prove that she said so.
Another clear sign was when the minister ignored the fact that the Lesotho team got to Benin having been funded by the association. Instead she was only singing praises for the Benin government for having agreed to the arrangement between LEFA and the Benin FA that 17 of the 28-member delegation that had travelled to Benin would return on a private jet chartered for the Benin team.
She never bothered to ask how the other members of the delegation came back and how the association hosted the match. Her interest was only in thanking the Benin government when that was an arrangement between two associations.
This even extended to the degree that the Right Honourable the Prime Minister, at the invitation of the Minister, paid a courtesy call on Benin's Minister of Sports who had travelled to Lesotho on a football mission and not State visit. The worrying part is that the PM paid a courtesy call on the Benin minister instead of the other way round. This should be worrying for us as a nation because it clearly violates protocol.
Is it true that the Minister has instructed the National Covid-19 Secretariat (Nacosec) to stop helping LEFA?
That is true. LEFA has always asked for expert advice from Nacosec in relation to hosting football events. Nacosec informed us that the minister barred them from assisting LEFA. This is unfortunate because Nacosec provides expert opinion on ways to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The Prime Minister said now that we are allowed to resume football events we should observe all health protocols.
That means LEFA, presidents of the District Football Association, District Administrators and the District Medical Officers should work hand in glove to ensure the environment is safe for football events. Nacosec trained more than 300 football administrators to ensure they are clear about the protocols to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. This collaboration is evidenced by the playoffs we had last week where Nacosec commended LEFA for the organisation.
Are you, therefore, saying the minister is going against the Prime Minister?
Nacosec is in the Prime Minister's Office. The PM has instructed Nacosec to assist LEFA in line with efforts to prevent the spread of the disease. What is worrying is that the United Nations' Bill of Rights is clear about the right to medical care be it in the administration of medicine and vaccine as well as consultation.
This is a universal right for all persons irrespective of their position. We are all entitled to consultation. The Corona virus is one of those diseases for which people should be allowed to access consultation without being bound by red tape. It cannot be right for anyone to instruct a professional body that has epidemiologists as well as infection and prevention officers to stop helping ordinary citizens. I have served football for the past 17 years and I don't know the ministry has an epidemiology department.
Neither is there one at the sports commission. So to be told that there are other avenues to get help doesn't serve reason or logic. It defeats the Right Honourable the Prime minister's purpose of establishing Nacosec when he assumed office. That the minister could be prepared to go that length is a clear sign of grave interference in the implementation of football activities.
Is there politics at play?
There is a political angle on her side. In all the interviews on radio she has always alluded to politics being at play. She always says there are politicians in LEFA. What is quite disturbing about these assertions is that I have been in football during several governments over the past 17 years and never before have I been accused of playing politics. I wonder what has changed now.
What is the impact of the current fight on football?
It is affecting football because there will be certain people who support certain political parties and might be inclined to believe what the minister is saying. Her allegations have the potential of pitting the association against the government. This should never be the case because football is a national sport. There should never be a time when the fraternity is divided. On a broader scale, her actions have the effect of delaying the resumption of football in the country.
What is the way forward?
We have referred the matter to Fifa and CAF. They have come back to us saying they are observing events and if the situation worsens, they will come to the association's assistance.
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