(MENAFN- The Post)
MASERU
Motlatsi Maqelepo, the embattled Basotho Action Party (BAP) deputy leader and Tello Kibane, who was the party chairman, have rejected their suspension from the party arguing it was legally flawed.
The BAP's central executive committee on Tuesday suspended Maqelepo for seven years and Kibane for five years. The suspensions became effective on the same day.
The party's disciplinary committee which met last Wednesday had recommended an expulsion for the two but that decision was rejected with the committee pushing for a lengthy suspension
Maqelepo's suspension will end on January 7, 2032 while Kibane's will run until January 7, 2030.
Their suspension letters from the BAP deputy secretary general Victoria Qheku, say they should not participate in any of the party's activities.
“In effect, you are relieved of your responsibility as a CEC member and BAP deputy leader,” Maqelepo was told in the letter.
“You were found guilty by default on all charges and the committee recommended your immediate dismissal from the party,” the letter reads.
On Kibane, the verdict states that the committee decided to mitigate the recommended sanction by reducing his suspension to five years
“In the gravity of the charges, the suspension affects your membership in the BAP parliamentary caucus from which you are removed as a chairman.”
They were suspended in absentia after they refused to attend the disciplinary hearing, which they said was illegal.
In response to the suspension, Maqelepo wrote a letter addressing the BAP members in general, defying the committee's decision to suspend them.
He has called for a special conference, appealing to party constituencies to push for it, citing the ongoing internal fight that includes the leadership's decision to withdraw the BAP from the coalition government.
Maqelepo also said the central executive committee is illegally in a campaign to dissolve committees in the constituencies and replace them with stooges
He reminded the members that there is a court case pending in the High Court seeking an interdiction to charge them in the party's structures without approval of the special conference that he is calling.
He said the party leadership should have awaited the outcome of the case before proceeding with any disciplinary action.
“The party that is led by a professor of law continues to do dismissals despite the issue being taken to the courts,” Maqelepo said.
The party leader, Professor Nqosa Mahao, is a distinguished professor of law.
Maqelepo said they would write the central executive committee rejecting its decision to suspend them, saying they will continue taking part in party activities
He said their fate in the party is in the hands of the special conference.
He appealed to all the party constituencies to continue writing letters demanding the special conference.
Both Maqelepo and Kibane received letters on November 28 last year inviting them to show cause why they should not be suspended pending their hearing.
They both responded on the following day refusing to attend.
Maqelepo, Kibane, Hilda Van Rooyen, and 'Mamoipone Senauoane are accused of supporting a move to remove Professor Mahao from his ministerial position last year
They were part of the BAP members who asked Prime Minister Sam Matekane to fire Professor Mahao, who at the same time was pushing for the reshuffling of Tankiso Phapano, the principal secretary for the Ministry of Energy.
When Matekane ignored Professor Mahao's demands, the latter withdrew the BAP from the coalition government much to the fierce resistance of the party's four MPs.
Maqelepo started touting members from constituencies to call for a special conference to reverse Professor Mahao and the central executive committee's decision.
The central executive committee issued a circular stopping Maqelepo's rallies but he continued, with the support of the other MPs.
In the BAP caucus of six MPs, it is only Professor Mahao and 'Manyaneso Taole who are supporting the withdrawal from the government
Nkheli Liphoto
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