Lesotho - Tempers set to flare once more

(MENAFN- The Post)

THE fracas in parliament last week is a clear sign that tempers are slowly getting out of hand as a bid to oust Moeketsi Majoro as premier flounders.
A faction of the All Basotho convention (ABC) has been rooting for newly elected leader, Nkaku Kabi, to take over as Prime Minister since January.
But Majoro has refused to budge leaving the Kabi group angry and deeply frustrated. What we saw last week were the effects of this frustration playing out in parliament and on other platforms.

With Majoro refusing to relinquish power, Kabi and his group have been left at the mercy of a premier who is not answerable to a party that catapulted him into office.
Majoro, who has the backing of the Democratic Congress (DC) – the second biggest political party in Lesotho – is confident that he can hang on to power until the next elections due by September this year.
What this means is that we are likely to see tempers flaring once more as we enter the election campaign season.

The sad events in parliament last week were a vivid reminder of the parlous state of our politics and the calibre of MPs whom we have entrusted with positions of leadership in this country.
In an exclusive interview with this newspaper this week, Kabi cut a frustrated figure despite denials to the contrary. Here is a man who was overwhelmingly voted as leader by the ABC.
Yet he remains impotent in his efforts to oust Majoro and assert himself at the helm of the ship of state.

Kabi has now been reduced to begging Majoro for support knowing full well that the blame for any electoral thrashing will be laid at his feet come September.
Kabi needs Majoro badly if he is to make any impact in the next election. Kabi also realises the folly of continuing to push for Majoro's ouster to serve the remaining few months as Prime Minister.
That, he says, would not make a lot of sense.

What he wants is for Majoro to back his campaign programmes when he goes out in the villages to campaign for the ABC.
He also wants his own key people in strategic ministries such as that of police and agriculture. The idea is to ensure that his own people work hard to fulfill campaign promises in the remaining few months.

But it would appear that Majoro has not moved with the same sense of urgency in addressing these concerns, further stoking feelings of anger and frustration within the Kabi camp.
If the ABC is to entertain any hopes of remaining politically relevant beyond September, Kabi and Majoro must work together. But it is clear that it is Kabi who needs Majoro more.
As party leader, Kabi retains the dream of becoming Lesotho's next Prime Minister. But to achieve that he needs tangible projects that he can point to if he is to make a dent during campaigns in the rural areas.

Kabi needs to reverse the damage his party did following the wool and mohair debacle in 2018. He needs to back rural farmers who are a key cog in the electoral machinery by supplying them with fertilisers and other inputs.
But he cannot do so unless Majoro comes to the party by parceling out key ministries to the Kabi camp.
If Majoro and Kabi do not smoke the peace pipe quickly, the ABC must brace itself for a long, cold winter out of power after the September elections.

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